1992 - AFC Divisional Playoff - Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers

last week we'll hear from these guys in just a moment but first let's set the game between the steelers and the bills buffalo won the earlier encounter between these two back in week 10 28-20 jim kelly with big numbers and they held barry foster in check one of only four games this year where he didn't get over 100 yards but that one was in buffalo today of course in pittsburgh where the steelers have lost just once this season the bills are coming off that miraculous win last sunday against the oilers but they remain banged up and for more on the bills let's go to the juice oj hey bob lucky you it's cold here in pittsburgh around 32 degrees the chill factor is around 14 and it is a little windy so that should affect the passing game as far as the bill's health is concerned of course jim kelly will not play thurman thomas who set out the second half of the comeback last week with a hip pointer i caught up with when he arrived at the stadium earlier today had any practice all week but i've been walking on the treadmill just to get loose and it feels pretty good today i'ma start the game i know it's going to be a little pain but it's getting about that time where a lot of the stars have to step up their game and start playing football and this is going to be the first step for me another marquee player of a concern for the bills as cornelius bennett he didn't play at all last week he had to pull hamstring he will start today that's the story with the bills john dockery what's happening with the steelers you know juice good news for the pittsburgh steelers because they get their quarterback neil o'donnell back after five weeks out with a broken leg he's practiced the last two week he's looked good he will start and after the team breakfast this morning i asked o'donald about his leg yes i feel fine just ready to get going right now you worked all week was there any pain any discomfort not at all just uh you know i feel very comfortable my legs not don't bother me at all just ready to get going now will you wear protective panting yes i will i'll uh protect it but uh you know that's just for cautionary reasons that's all o'donnell gets his best wide receiver jeff graham back from an ankle injury also one other note a throwback to the halcyon days of steelers in the 70s the terrible towel returns to three rivers stadium and marvin bill some people say it has magical powers for the steelers especially in a home playoff game well john i think today the pittsburgh steelers will be relying on more than those magical powers of the terrible towel to try and slow down buffalo wide receiver don beebe who killed the steelers over the last two meetings and bill he is a major concern of pittsburgh well that's right of a year ago during the regular season he caught four touchdown passes but this year's success was set up by this long pass which he dropped but it set up a series of underneath passes which he caught uh you see him here working against number 23 sammy walker who was matched up on them all day picking up a first down and then he converted a number of third downs on little outside patterns all set up by that long pass which he dropped and another problem for pittsburgh what can the steelers do to contain thurman thomas who ran for 155 yards against them back in week 10. well i think the steelers gonna have to play a little bit more of their base defense they gave up 174 yards rushing 155 of it was the thurman thomas if they do don't do better than that they're not going to win today and bob it should be pointed out i did offer bill one of these terrible towels but it is a little bit on the nippy side so he has requested an electric blanket stop me marv my sides are splitting mars riders apparently abandoning him in the new year we will rejoin him and uh bill parcells for the call in a minute what do you think well bobby i talked to pete carroll the defensive coordinator the jets this week said look at this game for me said will this is the way i look at it if thurman thomas has a big game buffalo wins if he doesn't pittsburgh got the shot how do you see it warren well you got to look at the quarterbacks frank wright's got to be beaming with confidence after last week's second half he likes to go to andre reed we'll see if rod whitson will be assigned to him all day and then neil o'donnell has been an actor for five weeks he didn't play well the last time he played so it'll be important for him to get off to a good start to help his confidence by the way folks in case you're wondering we will talk to warren moon about the game last week later in the show and again at halftime the other afc divisional playoff is tomorrow in miami between the dolphins and the chargers both finished the regular season 11-5 each won its division for a quick report let's check in with todd christensen at the dolphins practice site todd bob thanks so much and the weather here is absolutely tremendous if you happen to be a duck this torrential downpour is forecast for tomorrow as well and as a result of it becomes incumbent upon the running backs to be effective in tomorrow's game marion butts of the san diego chargers rush for over 100 yards and a touchdown and running rough shot over the kansas city defense last week and with miami dolphins key run stopper john alfred all out for the season that is going to be an issue with the miami dolphins defense on the other side of the ball their leading rusher mark higgs will not play in tomorrow's game which means bobby humphries normally the third down back we'll have to play the entire game i talked with bobby humphrey earlier and i asked him i said bobby is it going to be a stamina problem having to go the distance and he tilted his sunglasses down and looked at me and said what do you think so needless to say humphrey is ready well the marquee matchup of course is dan marino versus the san diego defense mourinho the only quarterback in the nfl to throw for over 4 thousand yards was nonetheless sacked a career high 28 times and he is going against the san diego defense led by leslie o'neill that led the afc and sacks this season and i would say this too bob is a footnote if there's anybody that can set up something to stop dan marino you would think that it would be bill arnsberger long time miami assistant creator of the no name defense and the killer bees he will have something ready for the dolphins come sunday bob yeah that's one of the interesting subplots and there are many of them in that game tomorrow which we'll talk about later as well up next oj brings us a different perspective on the steelers neil o'donnell that's as we continue on nfl live nfl live the afc divisional playoff is brought to you by intel the computer inside by plus system plus marks the spot for cash when you travel at cash machines coast to coast and beyond and by gte telecommunications consultant to the nfl in retail there are two absolute laws the customer is 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strong medicine in a cough drop extra strength mix with bix vapor medicine so effective it'll relieve your cough and help your scratchy throat and stuffy nose feel better even after the drop is gone a twin blade from vic [Music] this is new a twin for normal skin and it's room for sensitive right [Music] yo i'm a sensitive guy so i tried it it was good it was great a new big twin select normal sensitive it really blew me away you made a big man out of me a couple of former maryland terrapins frank reich and neil o'donnell face each other today with the winner headed for the afc championship game reich was an understudy to boomer assassin before starting in 84. stan gelbaugh now seattle backed up reich before getting his chance in 85. o'donnell started for two seasons 88 and 89 then he was succeeded at maryland by current patriot quarterback scott zolac now neil o'donnell missed the last three weeks of the regular season with a broken leg but he's back for the biggest game of his life as we turn to o.j simpson in pittsburgh however the juice has a different side of the o'donnell story hey bob you know one of the nice things about this job is you get to meet a lot of nice people like neil and the o'donnell family neil is one of nine children from madison new jersey the o'donnell family is a close-knit group who in the last five months become a lot closer success for neil o'donnell is a result of a strong work ethic and endless preparation but in early august on the eve of the steelers preseason opener bill o'donnell's world was shaken by news he was unprepared for my brother called me and told me that my dad was sick and he went to the hospital and that's really all i knew my dad had a stroke and he had six hours of brain surgery also he had a blood clot in his brain so uh you know there was a decision that had to be made and my mom and my brother made it that they had to operate on his brain and relieve the pressure from his brain when you see a person who's the pillar of your world reduced to half the man that he was initially after the surgery it's emotionally one of the most uh traumatic things you could ever put anyone through he wanted to come home as soon as possible and that's when my mom told them no reason to there's not much you can do right now it's in the hands of the doctors and the good lord the first thing i really realized was uh i have to get home i have to get home and see my father you know take football second and i have to go home because i didn't want to fly home to bury my father i can remember the day in training camp when he first got the news and i remember talking with him and only then and not knowing his background and realized how important his father was to him after talking to my mom and my brothers there was really nothing i could do if i was home because my dad was in such serious condition he wouldn't even realize i was there so my mom convinced me to stay at camp play the game against the eagles and then fly home right after and see my father and that's what i did [Music] despite the emotional burden o'donnell was spectacular in one quarter of action against philadelphia throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns how were you able to put this out of your mind or were you able to i kept thinking if there's one thing my father would want me doing he'd want me to be playing football you know my dad wouldn't want me by his bedside if there was a game that i had to play in if there was a big competition going on my dad would want me there so i knew deep down inside my father wanted me on the football field neal is the youngest of the nine o'donnell children his father jack began his career as a mechanic and eventually owned the automobile dealership his mother barbara earned her master's degree from columbia at the age of 22. i believe i got my toughness from my father no doubt about it my patience for my mom my mom's a very patient person and my dad's an aggressive man who is determined when he's determined to do something he's going to get it done [Music] neal has dedicated this season to his father steal her victories have become an important element in his dad's rehabilitation my dad was in critical condition he still knew when i played and he always wanted to know the score he'd always make my mom come in and read the sports page to him about how he played and uh every time i go out there i just said you know if we just continue winning it's the best therapy for my father when my dad suffered a stroke neal felt very bad about the situation and wanted my dad to be proud of him and wanted to help with therapy the best therapy for my father was seeing neil win football games i'm very proud to be his brother and he's really he's not let anyone down this year and i know my dad is extremely proud to have him as his baby son jack o'donnell is home in madison new jersey the left side of his body is paralyzed but he's showing signs of improvement i know he's watching now i want to commend you mr o'donnell owner raising a great group of kids even though you should have a talk with that steve and peter they took me out the other night i think they thought i was irish i still have the headache to prove it bob well some of that may brace you against the chill today at three rivers though juice let's get a quick football impression you're in the same division you play the steelers twice a year your thoughts about o'donnell well he's done a great job this year especially dealing with the adversity in his family and also having the broken ankle i think this is a big game for him today because he's been inactive for about the last four or five weeks his first playoff game i'm sure he's very excited about it okay and up next we look back at that incredible sequence of events that unfolded in buffalo last sunday strap him in nfl live continues [Music] people that first come to subway are a little surprised we don't have sandwiches ready just fresh bread that's you can 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achieve it that's why 11 years ago dean would have mapped out neil's financial course with one goal in mind victory we measure success one investor at a time [Music] train for the jobs of the future today at new england tech choose from 17 exciting career programs new england tech for over 50 years the leader in technical career education [Music] don't wait call new england tech at 467-7744 today [Music] 467-7744 the nfl coach of the year the steelers rookie head coach bill cower he had an interesting perspective as the bills and oilers battled it out last sunday at ridge stadium i watched the first half and prepared myself to play houston as the game started to turn in the third quarter i had put all those preparations out of my mind and i watched it as a fan and i thought it was the most entertaining football games that i've seen and i've watched a lot of football in my life warren moon was perhaps somewhat less than entertained but he has agreed to grit his teeth and comment a bit more about the game in a moment but first to will for a run through on the coaching vacancies let's start in chicago bob i don't think they have a candidate right now that's legitimate they haven't even made up a list but eventually they're going to try to get down to five guys and that's when mike mccaskey the president of biz will talk to each one of those guys individually and then make the pick fair to say that richie pettibone former bear defensive coordinator will be on that list well i think he'll probably be on the original list we'll probably have about 25 guys but i don't know if he's going to be on the final five that's up to mccaskey who succeeds dick mcpherson in new england well i think what sam jankovic is going to do is talk to dennis erickson at the university of miami you got to remember sam used to be the athletic director in miami and if he can't get dennis to come to new england then he's going to go over and talk to dave weinstein defensive coordinator cowboys also a former university of miami coach but i think once that's the hot guy right now i think he's the guy the giants have their eye on and what i understand the giants have already asked permission to talk to him meanwhile dennis erickson has the outs that he needs in miami right if that's right he's going to get out of his contract and come to the nfl how about dan reeves calling george young to express an interest in the giant job well he did and i think what he wanted to tell george is listen don't believe me to read in the papers i'm not a power monger i can go in there and do the job and you can still be in control but i think what's going to happen is this i don't see dan reeves or mike ditka or bill parcells in this mix right now of new coaches for next year who do you see getting reeves job in denver well i think mike shanahan got a lock on that one as soon as the 49ers are through and i think the only surprise could come in phoenix where i thought joe bugle was going to go now from what i understand he's most likely going to stay the change will be in the front office where larry wilson the general manager excuse me will probably move to the side and they'll probably get a new general manager one bit of advice and i seldom offer you advice never try to predict the maneuvers of billy bidwell that's right you know that from the st louis experience know it only too well now let's change directions here whether warren moon prefers that we do or not certain images linger from last week's all but unbelievable buffalo comeback against houston but the game was so eventful it's necessary to rewind the tape to get a better sense of what buffalo accomplished and houston squandered and to realize that despite their bent towards self-destruction the oilers still might have won in spite of themselves if any one of several plays had gone the other way let's pick it up after bubba mcdowell's touchdown return of an interception has given houston a 35-3 lead moments into the third quarter houston kicks off and things start to unravel al del greco's squib kick hits buffalo lineman mark maddox who makes a very athletic play to give the bills a short field at the 50. on the next snap frank wright's pass goes through the hands of linebacker eddie robinson a near interception that might have sealed the game instead buffalo marches to its first td with kenneth davis taking it in then on the ensuing kickoff houston isn't expecting the onside kick it's five-man front retreating as steve christie dribbles the ball soccer style and then makes the recovery himself a few plays later houston's safeties are occupied by keith mckeller running a deep seam roof that leaves don bibi free for an easy touchdown bibi is actually bumped out of bounds making him ineligible but the officials make no call two minutes later buffalo calls a flattened uproot to andre reed this is a play that steve jackson had defended well minutes earlier when the oilers were in a man-to-man but this time in zone the deep coverage will jump on a post pattern run by james lofton and when jackson fails to turn and run with reed the bills have another wide open receiver and their third touchdown on his next possession marv levy decides to gamble on a critical fourth and five at the oilers 18. houston chooses to play man-to-man underneath on buffalo's five receivers with two deep safety but jackson is again beaten by reed he gets no help from the safeties and buffalo has its fourth touchdown of the quarter as the final period begins al smith and the same steve jackson lose a certain interception near midfield then on a field goal try that could have pushed the lead back to seven greg montgomery fumbles the snap desperate now on defense houston blitzes jackson out of the slot but receiver and quarterback read it for another big buffalo first down on the very next play jackson should reroute his man disrupt him but instead reed goes straight down the scene his touchdown gives buffalo its first lead 38-35 watch reich as he looks off holding the safety marcus robertson just long enough with his eyes before threading the needle to read for the go-ahead td then in overtime there was one more in dignity ernest gibbons is held by daryl talley on nate odam's interception nothing is called and this leads to the winning field goal chris dishman said you guys choked is that harsh or on the money it's a word you hate to hear especially for your football team but it's pretty accurate because we had control of the ball game had a big lead we let it get away with all within a half or less than a half and for that to happen for a team that's supposed to be as good as we are i guess you have to say we choked it's not just this year there have been opportunities in the past with good personnel and you've never made it to the super bowl is there a sense that the window of opportunity has closed there's no question it's closing but i think we still have good personnel we have a good mixture of youth and and veteran players on our team so i think we'll be back it just depends on how well we respond to this next season was this piece too hard on steve jackson individually i think it really was because we played a lot of soft zone in the first half second half and a lot of those balls were caught in the opening areas of those soft zones and you didn't see any balls exactly caught on him so i think it was kind of harsh they just exploited areas in the in the zone that we had jim eddy gets fired defensive coordinator scapegoat or realistic decision well i don't know everything behind it but i'm sure they were kind of unhappy with the way the defense played early in the season and also we lost some fourth quarter leads and it's very easy to replace coaches as opposed to players so i think that's what they went after first on the defensive side and you didn't make the adjustments you should have made defensively in the second half right we probably should have went after them a little bit more like we did the week before and uh pressure right a little bit more making him have to make some throws he needed to make now you had a great first half one of the greatest in playoff history but do you critique yourself at all and the offense for the second half there's no question i think we could have did a better job of controlling the football especially in the third quarter when we had the win in our face and buffalo had it at their back if we could have sustained a couple of drives and got out of that quarter would have been very tough for them to come back with the win in their face but we didn't we went three and out a couple of times and turned it over one time and that enabled their their comeback to uh keep going okay our time is tight here but warren is back with us for more discussion at halftime and we're back with player introductions from pittsburgh right after these messages this symbol outside means you have the standard inside that an entire library of software has been written to the intel microprocessor think of it as a library card that lets you run the software of today and tomorrow so check out computers with intel the computer inside two thumbs up for scent of a woman roger ebert calls it an amazing film i'm in the amazing business pacino roars through this story with show-stopping intensity i'm just getting warmed up scent of a woman rated r now playing at theaters everywhere why did hurts invent number one club gold service to beat the rush hour see every plane and everybody seems to land at once but with gold service there's no stopping at the counters and no paperwork instead you go non-stop to your waiting car with your name and lights only hurts has number one club gold the best reason yet my hertz beats to rush hour to hurts the rest of the day is a piece of cake [Music] coast the eye-opener [Music] no uber not in your mouth here have a potato chip instead tired of those burnt spotted ordinary chips now that lays has created a chip so perfectly golden nothing less will do today's lace one taste and you'll cash in your old chips [Music] ten years to the day after the steelers last home playoff game 13 years after their fourth super bowl victory chuck knowl among those in attendance at three rivers let's pick up the introductions that left inside linebacker from california number 54 hardy nickerson that's right inside linebacker from florida number 50 david little that's right outside linebacker from fort valley state number 95 greg lloyd that left cornerback from purdue number 26 rod woodson that right cornerback the winner will be one step from the super bowl we'll see at halftime as we're joined by dan marino and junior seau until then enjoy the first half from pittsburgh everybody you know you can get cash just across the street but did you know you can get cash all across the country using the same card you use at the cash machines at home that is when your card has a plus because plus marks a spot for cash when you travel at cash machines in big cities and small towns in all 50 states and beyond so check your card and name your street a happily married psychiatrist is seduced by a patient who could destroy the only thing he loves you can't get away from me tim mathis in mind of a killer nbc monday people come to eastern butcher block for high quality reasonably priced furniture made right here not providence factory and to celebrate our six factory outlet in orange we've reduced everything 30 to 70 percent imagine a kitchen table for only 99 matching chairs nineteen dollars all bookcases fifty seven dollars or a beautiful extension table for half price so why not stop by eastern butcher block six factory outlets for real wood real value furniture [Music] in 1941 ted williams hit 406 reaching a goal that others have chased for a half century and the kid still swings pretty good we've reached a new goal at nissan too a while back we asked you to try two fine nissan breads canadian white and brown and most folks did ted most are you telling me bud that some people haven't even tried our canadians yeah but i spoke to them this morning that's about a thousand folks try both nissan canadians my car needs to break up just my luck my dealer makes appointments so i'm stuck the cost the hassle the pain the bus i wish that i could drive my car instead i ride the bus you've got to take your car is when your brakes go back get 20 off the price hey stop feeling sad and great might as well have a great guarantee and same [Music] repairs at midas today providence mayor vincent cianci sunday morning at 10. [Music] they were not supposed to be here not this soon [Music] the final link to the dynasty that won four super bowls coach chuck noll had only retired last year surely little could be expected from this young unproven group led by a rookie head coach but for the pittsburgh steelers this was a season of miracles [Music] who could have imagined this unlikely return to glory and the circumstances surrounding it an offensive architect spurned by the team he helped make world champions came to the steel city and injected newfound confidence in an unheralded quarterback and designed a familiar bruising running scheme a defense fired in mediocrity played with fury in the image of the team's fiery young coach to the surprise of everyone the steelers topped the afc central re-lighting the fires that once burned bright at the confluence of the allegheny the ohio and the banankahila for the buffalo bills 1992 seemed like their last best chance for greatness despite the haunting memory of two super bowl defeats for most of the season buffalo was the team to beat but they faltered at the end and limped into the playoffs then six days ago it looked like the battered bills were finally broken but they had saved all of their miracles for one final [Applause] couple of half boys say they have it oh [Music] [Applause] as overtime ended their miracle was complete the greatest comeback in the history of the nfl and so two teams one that lived a miracle season and another that lived a miracle game meet today the winner will be one victory away from representing their conference in the super bowl on a 31 degree breast stay in pittsburgh a capacity crowd better than 59 000 turning out for the first postseason playoff game at three rivers stadium in 10 years 10 years to the day and the terrible towels are back yes one of the signatures of the great steeler teams of the 1970s has been revived the terrible towels are back in grand style hi everybody i'm marv albert along with bill barcells and bill from the head coach point of view i would think the major concern of buffalo's marv levy is how will the bills react to that remarkable come from behind victory over houston last week how will they handle it well martin lily told us last night mark every monday he gets up in front of his team and he says forget about that game he didn't do that this week you know he he realized the game was part of history he wanted them to cherish it and take the exhilaration and the emotion bring it down to pittsburgh and hopefully get another win down here and neil o'donnell is back as pittsburgh starting quarterback coming back from the broken leg he missed the last three weeks of the regular season how will that playoff affect of donald i don't think it'll affect o'donnell at all he's had two weeks of practice he should be ready to go he played all year he only missed three games but they did give brister some repetitions they have two quarterbacks ready to go for the steelers today buffalo has won the toss and they will receive kenneth davis and brad lamb are back kenneth davis on the return and he brings across the 20-yard line and there it is frank wright with the offensive line they've been solid right throughout two pro bowlers and will wilford and the house howard ballard herman thomas is back harwell gardner in the backfield the receivers lofton reed and metzelon and when they go to what they call the kingdom don phibi a man who has destroyed the steelers over the last few minutes of two meetings will come on through the hands of andre reed covered by the strong safety carnell wait well the first thing i know first thing i noticed that's different the top of the screen rod wolf winston is playing left corner he usually matches up when they play buffalo on number three andre reid but this time cornell lake 37 is on reed and dj johnson number 44 is on bb second down and ten a big hole for further thomas is short of the first down stopped by the nose tackle gerald williams a look at that front seven they are very quick and they are athletic davidson williams evans up front carol williams at this and david little and greg lloyd are the linebackers a very solid secondary buffalo in the hurry up and the first down picked up by the tight end pete mitchell richard shelton the extra defensive back making the stop on metzelers well you see pittsburgh in their dime defense starting the game with the dime and richard shelton 24 has metzeler's man-to-man and he sneaks across and just picks up the first down again the no huddle first down at the 34. and right go sideline and has another first down combining with don beebe dj johnson the right corner made the stop and that's a pick up of 11. one of the things buffalo's been able to do against pittsburgh in the past is work one-on-one for wide receivers outside and as i said dom capers the pittsburgh defensive coordinator has elected to leave woodson and johnson on the wide receivers in an attempt to neutralize him today a spring pass for thomas telling us last night that he feels the no huddle offense can diminish pittsburgh's home field advantage it can lessen the uh home noise factory because the defense forced to light up faster than normal and it's more difficult obviously the sub to do right and pittsburgh does have a little communication problem uh facing this hurry up and we'll get into that right after this play second out and six thomas and he is shy of the first down larry griffin making the stop on thurman thomas who is back from the sore hip re-injure the hip pointer he suffered in the regular season finale and houston as a result kenneth davis played the second half last week and the wild card and played well but davis has like a full-back mentality except he plays tailback and he gives buffalo a good change up for the quickness of thurman thomas herman thomas getting the call and bringing close to the marker donald evans and the outstanding rookie free safety darren perry combined on the stop and they spotted just inside the 45-yard line they are calling for the yardsticks [Music] well one of the things that don capers the pittsburgh defensive coordinator said about the buffalo offense is they're not only good when they're spread out but they're very good in these type short yardage situations they bring that extra lineman into play tight end the big fullback carwell gardner is usually the lead locker it looks like this formation they have number 59 miss farat lined up in the backfield yes it is gardner with barack gardner so the steelers take over on downs they take over at the 46 yard line we'll be back in a moment [Music] dean witter believed every success story was unique we have a sacred trust to protect our investors whether it's the success of a small business to maintain conservative policies saving for college to put the interest of our clients first or [Music] we measure success one investor at a time gone are the days of the two-week vacation the average american getaway has sadly dwindled to 4.1 days but what hasn't diminished is our need to escape to a quiet stress-free environment like the luxurious interior of the acura vigor don't think of it as a drive to work think of it as a 30-minute vacation on that last fourth down play the two key guys carnell lake number 37 and david little attacking number 59 the lead blocker mitch ferrat and pittsburgh kind of lets buffalo know right here that this is going to be a football game today because that's a great defensive play to start off with it appear that my lady was upset about that that spot which has buffalo falling short on throw down and off the ferry foster turn the corner cut down by cornelius bennett who has made his return after missing the last two games with a full hamstring well one of the things that pittsburgh is going to try to do is run in behind the two big tight ends adrian cooper number 87 and 86 eric green and it just stick foster in there behind them and try to run from off tackle to wide and talk to their offensive coordinator ron earhart that's where they want to attack the bills off tackle and why 8 yard advance for barry foster who ranks second in the nfl rushing behind emmett smith o'donnell's pass could not be held by the tight end adrian cooper he was wide open well they go with the play action pass and pittsburgh is going to need to mix the running past on first and second down and the ball's just a little bit behind cooper and he can't hold on but look for pittsburgh not to come out and run run run and then pass pass pass it's going to be a mixture on first and second down i think throughout the game at the buffalo 46 four minutes gone by first quarter with no scores back to the ground and a first down picked up by barry foster stopped by shane godlin [Applause] [Music] let's run down the pittsburgh offensive alignment it's a very solid offensive line a couple of pro bowlers damonte dawson and carlton hasselrig will be making it to hawaii neil o'donnell back at quarterback barry foster merrell hodge are the running backs the receivers graham stone and cooper when they go to what they call the detroit the extra titan eric green will join adrian cooper jeff glam was a question mark with a sprained ankle but he is in there first out of the 41. and it's faster stop as he got inside the 40. daryl talley and shane cunlin combined to make the tackle it will be a second down at eight the front seven of buffalo hanson wright and smith up front bruce smith 14 sacks during the regular season patton conlon bennett bennett inside as he makes his return tally on the outside and williams odin jones and kelso in the secondary kirby jackson is back in action he'll be the nickel back it's the last two games because of a pulled hamstring second down at eight [Applause] ernie mills now split wide [Applause] [Music] [Applause] what o'donnell did there was put a flood formation out to the right expecting single coverage on top of the screen which he got just a three deep zone and ernie mills runs a short inside post the ball may have been tipped uh by one of the the buffalo defenders there's another look at it but if not it's just in behind uh no it's it's clean to the receiver it's in behind uh number 37 nate odin's for the big first down a 20-yard advance now back to the ground for foster stopped by bennett ilodano was telling us yesterday now he comes back from a crack right fibula and he is wearing a cast build not on the right leg but on the left leg because he is hoping that buffalo defensive players will not realize it and they will go for the left leg instead of the right well there's where the cast is but this is where the bad leg is right here you know you should put a duck decoy on that castle because that's really what it [Music] little is was pulled off by neil o'donnell second and seven at the 16 off the play action o'donnell could not find anyone and down he goes brought down by the nose tackle jeff wright this play action that o'donnell just finished attempting there was the one that was successful in the first meeting up at buffalo for two touchdowns he fakes hard to the left foster and then bootlegs back looking for the tight ends coming across but buffalo has this play well defensed and you know they should have after you give up a couple of touchdowns in the game usually you work pretty hard on those things that hurt you and it was a good job by the buffalo defense and the [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the locker room last week and then things did turn around in the second half of the drive and o'donnell's taken down by tally daryl talley two-time pro ball player four sacks during the regular season comes up with the sack right here well daryl talley just on the pass rush working against the guard davao love number 67 and love just doesn't get out there in time to stop the tally surge and he's able to to sack o'donnell and prevent the first down pittsburgh is gonna have to settle for a field goal it's a 38 yard attempt for gary anderson angle for the left it is good it's the steelers three the bells nothing gone are the days of the two-week vacation the average american getaway has sadly dwindled to 4.1 days but what hasn't diminished is our need to escape to a quiet stress-free environment like the luxurious interior of the acura vigor don't think of it as a drive to work think of it as a 30-minute vacation in one day we send out a lot of packages probably ship maybe five packages a day 30 packages 200 packages a day by united parson they do a good job two three thousand three to four thousand that's a lot of packages so we ship it overnight to chicago florida atlanta overseas belgium italy venezuela underground second day air second day air off it goes next day 10 30 guaranteed guaranteed only one company does all that ups ups i would think ups ups does everything it's from a to z nuts to soup and action mcdonald's egg mcmuffin sandwiches they don't really do anything but they taste really good and now you can get two of them for just two dollars and cup thanks guys that was great the surface of a strange distant planet no two tantalizing mcdonald's big mac sandwiches now get them both for just two dollars what you want is what you get at mcdonald's today deep in a remote jungle nope two big macs for two dollars you mean you forgot already [Music] the nfl on nbc is brought to you by budweiser the king of beers with that fresh pure natural taste nothing beats a bud by acura automobiles experience precision crafted performance by ups the package delivery company more companies count on and by alamo there are over 4 million miles of roads in alamo territory and with alamo all those miles are free [Applause] back at three rivers in pittsburgh where the steelers went seven and one at home their best record at home since they were eight-year-old back in 1979. and the kickoff return handled by brett lamb our driving run by lamb who's bumped out just inside the 25 by jerry olsafsky a 38-yard field goal by gary anderson giving pittsburgh a three-nothing lead and buffalo will start out from the 25-yard line until last week buffalo coaches apparently were worried that frank wright was over preparing for the game against houston he was told to pull back on the extra film work you ever told a player to ease up and the preparation for a game no i don't think you can over prepare unless it's costing you some rest some sleep with the handoff and that was diagnosed herman thomas is stopped for a loss by greg lloyd greg lloyd one of the big play plays for the steelers along with rob woodson bottom of the screen number 95 comes unblocked and what happened there was reich audible to a weak side play that looked like it was there and then lloyd glick at the last minute and took it away loss of three second and 13 from the 22. thomas getting across the 30-yard line run out by the strong safety carnell lake you know one of the problems uh a defensive team has when you're playing up against the hurry up offense is the communication now on top of the screen you see dom capers who's making the call down to dick lebeau who just signaled it out to the whole defense who are just all visually looking at lebeau because they don't have time to go back in the huddle either so they have to get the defense from le beau when it comes down from capers [Music] just under six minutes remaining first quarter the terrible cows at work it was tip and drop reed the intended receiver covered by lake frank wreck saw the blitz coming that time he called the audible they had the right play call but the ball was tipped and he just couldn't get it to read boss tipped off the line of scrimmage i couldn't see who did it but it affected the flight and reed wasn't able to make the reception and lake had close coverage anyway earlier in the season the steel is very effective with fatted balls a lot of tips and that area seemed to slow down as the season progressed rod woodson is back for the puck and here's richard out to the 30. leaving his way to the 34-yard line rod woodson the leading front return man of the afc going for 15 on the 48-yard pod there's nothing else like it on earth or maybe even in heaven it stretches for 725 miles and it's called the california coastline there are over four million miles of roads in alamo territory all across america and every day with every car nationwide only alamo gives you all those miles for free including the ones where the people bask in the sun and watch the seas and the seals bask in the sun and watch the people [Music] i'll be right with you unleaded please why will rock and roll [Music] never die try a beer that drinks like a light with real draft taste but dry because while legends may come and go true refreshment is here to stay it's the weekend and the honda automobile plant in marysville ohio is closed everybody's going home well almost everybody so this is a good time to show you around 10 000 americans built three out of every five hondas sold in america right here in ohio in fact they've been making cars here for 10 years well we won't take up any more of your time after all it is the weekend [Music] well the city of pittsburgh has certainly been revved up for today's game this the scene coming down from the parkway west from the airport no comebacks allowed and the terrible towels are back john donkey on the pre-game show telling of the alleged magical powers of the terrible tao long-time pittsburgh fans relating the tale of a terrible towel healing the leg of one terry bradshaw during a 1975 playoff game do you think i'm pulling you right there no i think those towels work better though when the players are big and fast yes a valid point first down of the 34 as obama goes sideline once again combining with mills who refuse to go down ernie mills in his second year out of florida strong special teams player who has been seen more as a prime receiver as the season has progressed 30 catches during the year henry jones jd williams combined to make that stop it'll be a second and five at the 33. bill cower telling us after practice yesterday his major piece of advice directed to offensive coordinator ron earhart coming off buffalo's performance last week carlos said he told earhart don't get too big a lead yeah that's right because they can score quick buffalo but and foster has a first down and patton combined to stop barry foster well this is just the old what people refer to as the green bay sweep you see both guards pulling duval loves 67 and carton carton caught and hassel rick 77 around the corner and they use the flanker to crack back on the linebacker and the steelers have done a good job so far in this game nixon running pass on first and second down offensive coordinator ron earhart and he'll help design the giants game plan by defeating super bowl 25. bennett makes the stop on foster hill ron said something about you supplying the coffee and donuts during the offensive meetings with the giants just to keep busy and he would just take care of things no that's not right the rookies number one draft choices always were in charge of all donuts i see but ron earhart if if he has an advantage offensively today it's the mismatches of the pittsburgh's tight ends against the linebackers and cornerbacks of buffalo and they've got to make that show up today offensively it's a second and five and foster short of the first down quick moving first quarter we're down to 3 15 remaining pittsburgh on a 38-yard field goal by gary anderson leading three nothing well this situation the third and shorts or certain mediums are what pittsburgh was hoping for now bill cower bill caratolos yesterday in our meeting that he felt like that the third down play in during the week 10 game was the deciding factor that their offense couldn't execute the third downs and buffalo's offense could and that was the difference but pittsburgh has a good shot from the but that right here it's leroy thompson on a direct snap stopped by jeff wright little deception there by the steelers that's another way to run the draw play and o'donnell fakes like he's going back for the shotgun and leroy thompson just cuts the snap off and runs it up the middle with a little cross block in there and picks up the first down apparently they are going to check it out they're calling for the yardsticks my eyes are good mark i i trust you incidentally ron earhart said the whole idea against buffalo which has always been your philosophy as well i never doubt you push down is picked up earhardt's thought is shorten the game obviously means keep buffalo's offense off the field and that is what he has been able to do here in the first quarter but i think in order to beat a team like the buffalo bills with the high-powered offense not only does your defense have to go out there and stop them but your offense has to play a little bit defensively also it's their job to keep buffalo from having the opportunities and i'm sure that's the way pittsburgh is approaching this game it is a first down at the 44 here's boston took a hit from jeff wright and shane conlon it'll be a three-yard pickup second down and seven at the 41. little counter play with the backside guard number 67. duval love pulling and trapping 53 marcus patton as it looks like a face mask but it didn't show up it looked like shane conlan might have had a little grasp for the face mask but it wasn't called so it doesn't count wasn't called never happened that's right a second down and the seventh now leroy thompson flanks out to the left side ernie mills to the right and elgato is picked off intercepted by nate odoms [Music] one of the problems you have when you only take a three-step drop like this you don't elude the defenders number 90 phil hanson gets his hand on the ball and deflects it to nate odoms and stops another pittsburgh drive [Music] so to compete you've got to be strong to win you've got to be smart maybe you can be one of us the few the proud the marines everybody needs something for every mile over the limit everybody that's 300 bucks you can add fast too when you need money fast only western union can get it to 16 000 locations in minutes nobody else even comes close french 101 something in my heart and biology 903 western union the fastest way to send money and to send money by credit card from home call us at 1 800 call cash [Music] to those who still believe that only expensive luxury cars should offer standard anti-lock brakes a driver side airbag and sophisticated engine technology we think you'll come around the civic ex sedan from honda the nfl on nbc is brought to you by honda maker of the number one selling car in america for the last three model years the honda accord hi bobby brister and neil o'donnell chatting about that last interception i would guess picked off by nate odoms who had a big one last week he had five in the regular season and it's a first down at the 34. frank wright and you see the penalty flags take your pick on that one john davis is coming at right guard replacing glenn parker davis went down with a knee injury last year has played sparingly this season number 51. five yard penalty still first down look to be jim richer of the left guard you see him just jump a little bit and donald evans reacts properly and not switch her back there now got a first and 15. can't hold the center jim richard and john davis at the guys will wilford and howard ballard on the tackles kenneth davis getting the call running to the 35 tripped up by richard shelton kenneth davis in his seventh year from texas christian last week came on for the injured thurman thomas and rand for 68 yards scored a touchdown and there is furman who has been bothered by a sore hip second down and nine so right incomplete metzelars the intent of receiver covered by shelton reich is now four of seven for 30 yards well that was one of those little read patterns where the tight end has an option to go in or out and mensa lars comes off the line and he decides to go in against shelton number 24 and i think sheldon mountain just grabbed him a little bit because wright definitely thought he was going to go back to the outside on that one 34 seconds to go first quarter pitch first three buffalo nothing third down and nine look out off the blitz right goes down carnell lake coming in from the strong safety position to get to the quarterback number 37 carnell lake comes clean there no buffalo offensive man sees him and he's got a free shot at frank reich and pittsburgh has decided to mix the blitz in indiscriminately they're going to try it and if buffalo can't handle it you're going to see a lot of it so with the success they just had the next time maybe an extra long situation comes up you might be able to see another blitz well chris moore comes on to pot but this first quarter is over pittsburgh with a 3-0 lead do you know the national debt is almost 4 trillion dollars that works out to roughly sixteen thousand dollars for every man woman and child in the country even the gold fishes into somebody for 30 40 bucks relax i'll float you alone and with banks charging up to 19 interest on our credit cards we're literally drowning in debt no offense this is the american express card no interest no revolving debt so you don't have to worry about going belly up you're right one too many i didn't know he could do that our six-inch meatball sub features meatballs and sauce and bread i just baked all for a low economical price i won't say how low but you'll probably find enough in the cushions of your couch the six-inch meatball sub only 1.69 only at subway outlaw lover hero van damme as you've never seen him before nowhere to run rated r at theaters friday this is the runaround you get a lot of it these days instead of service to not get the run around call on your allstate agent who promises [Music] everyone's all right don't worry about that college football's best and brightest are on nbc rick meyer shane matthews and the nation's top senior all-americans the kodak hoola bowl next saturday welcome back to three rivers stadium pittsburgh marv albert with bill parcells pittsburgh steelers three and the buffalo bills nothing if pittsburgh wins they host the afc championship game next sunday january 17th if the wild card bills win they must go to miami or san diego miami and san diego meeting tomorrow here on nbc rod woodson back for chris moore's second part his first went 48 yards [Music] let it bounce now the steal is indicating that they do have it that looked to fool rod woodson well i think maybe the wind got it at the last minute and he decided to try to jump away from it and when he did the ball carrum dover off him but warren williams number 42 was able to recover it i think that's exactly what happened the wind took it at the last minute woodson realized he couldn't get it without reaching so he just jumped back and it hit him and woodson i mean williams recovered looked like he was trying to give it the third baseman try just to block it to keep it under control once in a great while a car comes along with such timeless beauty such intrepid performance you can't help but make predictions what do you do when you think something is destined to be a collector's item you put one away for safekeeping the mazda mx6 then again who can wait that long today to grow your business beyond the expected you go beyond your borders but running networks between countries writing software in many languages and financing your projects worldwide can be tricky ibm is at home in over 140 countries we can steer you away from trouble and toward opportunity just as we have for hundreds of other companies if you're seeking your fortune in the world there's never been a better time to do business with ibm above all else i had to win her but should i go here or there or just put my pants on backwards would she feel it was a cosmic rollercoaster to the stars or just a metaphysical bus ride to palookaville i seized the moment share the six-pack light the right beer now ron woodson telling the pittsburgh guys what happened there that the ball was not a spiral and it was kind of flat like a knuckle ball at the last minute he just died on him and he tried to get out of the way so he's over there explaining to everybody how that fumble almost a curfew so a first down at the 35-yard line stealers have had good field position they lead three nothing this second quarter getting underway play action and o'donnell swings it out but it's incomplete intended for foster he was defended by patton incomplete i mentioned the san diego miami game it's upcoming tomorrow right here on nbc junior seau and his chargers going up against dan marino and the dolphins the winner advancing to the afc championship game coverage starting with nfl live 3 30 eastern time bob and will in the studio and a special guest in our new york studio former chicago bears head coach mike ditka will be on hand it will be a crowded studio tomorrow afc divisional playoffs continue starting 3 30 eastern time right here on nbc 2nd down and 10 for the 35 but in the round for dwight stone and loses on the player diagnosed well what they try to do there is get the white stone who has the ability to to score if he can ever get in the open field it's a little bit of a gadget play they kind of fake to foster a little and then give it to stone on a sweep but bruce smith does a good job stringing it out and daryl talley comes over and finishes them off and when you try those kind of plays on first down and they don't work you come up with second and third and third teams which is just what pittsburgh doesn't want dale o'donnell [Music] charles davenport now the reception for 24 yards tackled by the strong safety henry jones charles davenport fourth round draft pick rookie from north carolina state making the catch over the middle well davenport just gets down the seam against the zone very much the same style play that andre reed caught for the go-ahead touchdown last week against houston same style play ball is on time and the safety can't get there and it's a good completion a big first down on 13. foster running to his right stopped by bruce smith nine carries 39 yards for barry foster the earlier meeting this season against buffalo foster held in check 22 carries 78 yards buffalo winning 28-20 at rich stadium buffalo has won the last four against pittsburgh last season buffalo beat pittsburgh 52-34 this buffalo's first visit to three rivers since back in 1985 when pittsburgh came to behind one 30-24 they were down 21-000 greatest comeback victory in steeler franchise history o'donnell's pass incomplete intended for mills well i think pittsburgh's offensive play selection really has buffalo a little bit unsettled right now they're just indiscriminately mixing the running pass regardless of the down and distance you know they've had a couple of good runs the first downs they just hit the big third down uh they ran foster off tackle now they come back with a little curl pattern and they're doing a very very good job of keeping the buffalo defense off balance but again this situation of the third and [Music] [Applause] it is davenport who caught only nine balls during the regular season well you can credit neil o'donnell for that one because he really put it in a tight spot and uh you know that's two real good third down throws and i think that probably is gonna dispel uh any worry about o'donnell being rusty because he just made two real great throws now you see bruce smith working against john jackson here coming inside and getting pushed down the line of scrimmage but that play was thrown quick enough that smith even if he was unblocked from the goddamn picked up 15 foster on the slant to the 25 advance of two cornelius bennett daryl talley combined to make the stop yes neil o'donnell has looked sharp missed the last three games of the regular season with that cracked right fibula he's been out five weeks he was nine and three as a starter a very efficient quarterback he has been perfect for this offense well they're not asking him to win the game they're asking him to play within the system barry foster is the guy that this offense is built around and using him on the running game and those tight ends in the passing game i spoke for the end of round and this time o'donnell was that was one of those gadget plays where they faked the reverse and you know it's one of those all or nothing things either you get a touchdown or you have no place to go they make an inside run and fake and smith bruce smith goes for it you see and now o'donnell's back there looking for a receiver but the buffalo secondary played very well and had it covered so we've seen one end around one fake reverse i know you seem to feel the coaches become more aggressive at playoff time not necessarily holding up during the super bowl but during the playoffs it's a third down and eight o'donnell [Applause] [Music] well there's a little show of inexperience on the part of o'donnell because one of the cardinal rules is you never get sacked out of field goal range now if the receiver isn't there don't wait for it just throw it away and try to kick the field goal so i'm sure o'donnell would like to have that one back there because you never should be sacked out of field goal why do you feel coaches are more aggressive during the playoffs well i think you know your team a lot better the beginning of the year you know your experiment you haven't seen your team under pressure you don't know what kind of chemistry you have but i think by the time you play 17 or 18 games you know exactly what you have mark royals getting the bounce on that punt and goes for 32 and they'll place it inside the five get in line stay in step or maybe you'd rather go your own way in which case check out the 93626es from mazda the company that's put a twist on everything from luxury cars to roadsters now we've done the same to sedans with a v6 an airbag and abs the mazda626 [Music] can't someone pick up my phone carry here [Music] this isn't mr kerry this is his secretary please haul federal express i need to check on a package fast keep holding please i hear mr carrie down the hall [Music] only federal express can confirm delivery in seconds other companies can take days that package was delivered at 907 signed for by mr henson i'm sorry that's okay federal express our most important package is yours so you're really giving all this up who knows what's right all i know is how i feel and i'm feeling i missed enough of jenny's life already i don't want to miss anymore you guys going to be okay on my salary actually our broker at pain liver made it a little easier when she heard i was pregnant she got us to start investing long term i think there was more options down the road how'd she know you were thinking about all this back then i'm not sure i was until she asked the nfl on nbc is brought to you by mazda mazda it just feels right by magnavox smart choices for smart people the ingenious products from magnavox they're smart very smart by coors light the silver bullet is the right beer now and by ibm helping your business meet new challenges four and a half minutes gone by second quarter buffalo takes over thurman thomas has made his return kenneth davis played the last series looked like thomas hurt his hip he came into today with a sore hit and during the course of that last series they were taking care of thomas buffalo starting from deep in its territory thomas tried to pick his way but he is stuck hardy nickerson on the tackle of furman thomas take a look at what buffalo has done and they have been kept off the field they start from at 21. he plays lose it on downs start back with a 25 and they're 34 three and out yeah but for all pittsburgh's good work and they've done a lot of it they only have three points to show for it and i think buffalo has kind of whispered the initial surge and you know you can't hold these guys down forever and you see them get out of the end zone there with a nice in cut to bibi but i i'm sure that that the pittsburgh coaching staff are a little concerned that they don't have more to show for all the work they've done so don bieber with his second catch of the day and a first down at the 18 now right goes the other side looks like bb had it for an instant it has rolled in complete the coverage by the right corner d.j johnson pittsburgh leading three-nothing on a 38-yard field goal by gary anderson another look at that pass to bibi who was turned around could not hang on well it looks like the pittsburgh coaches have decided to match their corners against the buffalo receivers and and see if they can't win that battle there and use all the rest of the guys to take away andre reed the tight end and thurman thomas and if that plan works if woodson and johnson can hold up on bb and lofton i think the other nine guys can take care of reed thomas and metzelon it'll be a third down at 12 back at the 16. locked in his flank to the right right goes the other side incomplete intended for bb once again covered by johnson that ball was a little bit underthrown and that's one of the more difficult things for the defense to to adjust to because number 44 dj johnson has no way of knowing the ball's under thrown you see bb sees it first tries to come back and johnson runs up on him a little bit but that was an interference and as i said it's going to be those corners against the buffalo receivers it looks like today and if they can hold up pittsburgh is going to have a good chance more coming from his one [Music] and it carries out at midfield it's a 37-yard pot pittsburgh will return to the offense [Music] no uber not in your mouth here have a potato chip instead tired of those burnt spotted ordinary chips now that lays has created a chip so perfectly golden nothing less will do today's lace one taste and you'll catch in your old chips heather is safe or a dead there is a place beyond fear beyond pain beyond the very limits of human endurance a place where the human spirit we're gonna save ourselves becomes the most powerful force on earth this is the true story of sixteen of the most courageous people you'll ever meet and how they stayed a live radar starts friday january 15th why can't vandoor swing open instead of slide why do minivans handle like trucks why can't they feel more like a car this is what the engineers at mazda wondered when they designed the mpv because when you ask better questions you tend to come up with better answers why does your daughter do that the mazda mpv five meters to go pablo goes for the wall he reaches he touches [Music] [Applause] july 1992 another memorable moment from nbc sports [Music] and that member belonging with pablo morales part of a series of flashbacks we'll continue to bring your way as we take a look back at a terrific year in sports pablo just recently named the united states olympic committee sportsman of the year it's a first down at the 47 as pittsburgh takes over [Applause] [Music] barry foster stopped by the combination of shane cotland and mark kelso 8 20 remaining in the first half pittsburgh with a three nothing lead well they've had good field position too you see they're starting to average start of possession their own 41 but the thing that has to be encouraging for the steelers and a little disconcerting for the bills is pittsburgh's ability to pick up five and six yards consistently on first down second down and five big opening for foster and another pittsburgh first down shane cotland made the stops of foster 12 carries 57 yards he is off to a good start well whenever you get an inside run going like that you know the inside guys are blocking well and dermani dawson 63 67 duvall love doing a pretty good job on jeff wright and shane conlon and inside there and foster has pretty good room if pittsburgh can do this this will keep buffalo off balance very well first down at the buffalo 37 foster again inside the 35 stopped by tally and right barry foster was named the steelers most valuable player about a week ago and he took that opportunity to make the point that he has not been happy about his his contract said that he is prepared to sit out next year if pittsburgh refuses to renegotiate his contract well the offense is built around him and you know there's no doubt he's a very capable nfl back but you know that off-season talk usually doesn't mean much capable do you think that's that's kind of that's not giving a winning endorsement as o'donnell had the ball knocked out of his hand buffalo indicating that they have covered up and they have the bills recover phil hansen who has had a terrific season was able to cover up bruce smith script neil o'donnell well bruce smith down working against duvall love now that's a little adjustment on the part of the buffalo defense every once in a while they'll take their defensive hands and put them down on the guards and that's what happened you saw smith matched up against love and he was able to come around the corner and create the sack and the turnover and buffalo has withstood three of these pittsburgh surges now and they've got to feel pretty good about the ability to do that first down from the 41-yard line 6 15 remaining in this first half steelers with a three-nothing lead second down and six from the 45 coming up buffalo bills have given off the look of several different teams this season earlier they're very explosive on a roll to midfield stopped by hardy nickerson prior to the loss to miami in week five and then they hit a down period with the losses to the colts and the jets one of the key things is ken hall the center right here being able to block on the weak side in order to get that weak side running game going ken hall coming out sealing off the defensive back there those three guys able to block the weak side of the pittsburgh defense is the whole key to the buffalo weak side running game and there's still a crowd urging the defense on but it is a first down and more for thomas reaching inside the 40. darren perry the rookie free safety made the stop thomas running for 12 yards great open field tackle by darren perry a guy like thurman thomas short yardage i always used to feel is one of the most dangerous situations for an explosive back like him because everyone's bunched up and if he gets a priest he might just go all the way and that's almost what happened there and he's upset that he did not go all the way the tight end mexico's on the reception and buffalo with a good-looking drive metzeler's second catch of the day hardy nickerson on the tackle one of the staples of the buffalo offense is to clear out and bring a guy across sometimes they clear out with the slot man like they're doing here bringing the tight end across other times they clear out with the tight end and breed bring andre reed of course [Applause] with another buffalo first down needed four and picked up 14 perry made the stop well this is a little designed cut back play with the tight end coming across as the lead blocker metzelars coming across kicking out the defensive end and davis loose on the secondary it's a designed cutback all the way and the bells have quieted this pittsburgh crowd davison for the line and he stopped for a loss one of the things i like about kenneth davis i think he's one of the most underrated players in the national football league he has tailback ability but he has a full back mentality he comes in he gets the tough yards he breaks tackles he doesn't care what his role is he's just in there and trying to help his team win the game and i think this guy is one of the most underrated guys in the national football league originally a second round draft pick of green bay signed with buffalo on plan b back in 89 well the crowd [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] made the stop and the buffalo bills are now on the doorstep a 19-yard advance you can credit that completion though to the buffalo pass protection because reich wanted to go on the other side it was completely covered he pulled the ball down he had plenty of time to come back and find bibi who had alluded woodson to the outside so the buffalo pass protection is what enabled right to find bibi they had the pittsburgh defensive uh players well back from the quarterback first one further thomas is back each play of the drive [Music] they stack him up and he is stopped short of the goal line as we roll to the two minute mark fast moving first half pittsburgh three buffalo nothing two minutes remaining we'll be back in pittsburgh in a moment [Music] at prudential securities we invest the time it takes to get to know you we invest over one hundred thousand dollars in training every new financial advisor who serves you and we invest millions of dollars every year in the research and analysis that helps serve you better because of credential securities the most important thing we have to earn is your trust [Music] those smart folks at magnavox have asked me to tell you about all their highly intelligent products in just 15 seconds you must be choking don't be ridiculous that's it i quit magnafox smart very smart this is crazy this is crazy crazy two pizzas two free crazy breads two free soft drinks all for 7.98 at little caesars pizza pizza this is our vision of what a luxury sedan should be not because it offers rich leather and anti-lock brakes but because it comes standard with an airbag on the driver's side and the passenger side as well creating a luxury sedan where even peace of mind is shared the mazda929 [Music] but chargers led by relentless defense fresh off a playoff shutout the afc west champions of the nfl's hottest team the dolphins mourinho and the afc east champions are rested and raring to go the winners one step from the super bowl the losers on vacation the afc divisional playoffs continue sunday [Applause] back at three rivers stadium in pittsburgh marv albert bill parcells the steelers on a 38 yard field goal by anderson lead three nothing but the bill second and goal from the one thomas and driver the running back and right crashes them up touchdown mitch on the reception he caught a touchdown pass in the regular season game against pittsburgh back in week 10. this is his third touchdown pass of the season but it's a little deja vu for mitch ferrat and as you say it's his third touchdown but two of them have been against the steelers and they they made a real hard inside fake and on very short yardage the defense has to commit to that inside fake and after that play fake wright was able to pull it down and get it right too for rot who has another touchdown against the steelers some 40 50 miles away from pittsburgh from a town by the name of katanning i think has some few folks here rooting for him nine plays 59 yards in four minutes and 26 seconds and buffalo with a 7-3 lead on pittsburgh [Music] i do this every day nine years as of last wednesday two and a half years a little bit under five i've been there 14 years i work in the shipping department i'm traffic manager shipping manager eight years fourteen years ten years next october what overnight service would i recommend alcohol is shipping companies who would i recommend coast to coast coast to coast 10 30 guaranteed 10 30 guaranteed we use ups ups best overnight delivery services ups we'll send it out tuesday at get started wednesday if they say it's 10 30 absolutely it's 10 30. they pick up when they say they're going to and they deliver when they say they're going to anything that makes my job easier i like hey i'm vain of course i'm vain that's why i call my hair the way i do i stay in shape the way i do that's why i use power stick 50 more wetness and odor fighters per stroke power stick by faberge power that won't let you down i told you i was vain a department of energy study reveals that most american homes don't have enough insulation and that means you to find out what's right for your home call owens corning at 1-800 get pink hi i'm danny devito and i'm john bon jovi join us this week on saturday night live john you're from new jersey right yeah give me a ride home after the show sure a happily married psychiatrist is seduced by a patient who could destroy the only thing he loves you can't get away from me tim mathis in mind of a killer nbc monday on the last touchdown mitch moratz lined up right here they fake it hard inside the gardener and slip at the ferrat after the inside fake which pittsburgh has to honor nice bit of deception by the buffalo offense right there [Music] and the bills have been throwing to the likes of mitch verratt back up center john fena back up offensive lineman so buffalo with a 7-3 lead white stone on the kickoff return across the 20. and he was drilled by steve tasker a minute 50 remaining in this first half on that key play in the last drive was the same one that frank wright had completed to the tight end but this time the tight end right here was covered and he comes back and finds bibi down in the corner after protection holds up so well see reich's looking for the tight end he can't find him he pulls it back down and gets bibi down to the goal line and woodson had kind of sloughed off after the play 22-yard line out trailing 7-3 o'donnell in trouble going sideline to bills and he is short of the first down bumped out by henry jones so o'donnell is now five for ten intercepted once and he has been sacked three times uh what neil o'donnell has to be very careful of here though 143 to go in the half you know you've just gone down seven to three you don't want to make the key mistake here and make it 14-3 i think if he can hit a play here and get the drive going he'll run the two-minute offense but if anything looks bad i think he'll be pretty conservative second on three incomplete j.d williams with the strength of ernie bells the other thing you have to think about here is if you don't pick up this first down with the way buffalo runs play so fast you know you could be giving them very good field position with enough time to get another score it is now a third down and three at the 29 yard line up and overall seeking to become the first team since the raiders to play a three consecutive afc championship later did it back in 72 through 76 and donald made by stone for the first down and a penalty flag has been thrown number 80 charles davenport is the injured pittsburgh player and there's a flag that has been thrown in around him i don't know what happened but i i did see him laying on the field and the flag came late from the field judge so maybe it was a roughness on the buffalo secondary referee is bernie a personal foul it's been a penalty free first half illegal contact number 37 on the defense penalty is declining first down selenade odom's call on the penalty which has been [Music] well that's an declined hit down the field by number 27 clifford hicks you know after the receiver goes five yards you're not allowed to hit him and he just threw a shoulder into him now i think you'll see o'donnell in his two-minute mode for sure 6 [Music] coming up it's the domino's pizza nfl live halftime report bob costas o.j simpson will mcdonough john dockery warren boone on hand to bring you an analysis of the first half and they'll also be talking with dan marino of the dolphins junior seau of the charges as they look ahead to tomorrow's game between miami and san diego that's all coming up at halftime but with only 124 to go i still don't think there's a sense of urgency here for the steelers they have all three of their tie mats remaining they've got plenty of time to work the ball down the field in a conservative win with those three timeouts second and four that ball deflected and going incomplete eric green the intended receiver proud here looking for an interference call on the strong safety henry jones well henry jones has been a guy that's been a big part of the improvement of the buffalo defense he's matched up on eric green and i think the steelers would like to have that match up all day long but if jones can play it that well then buffalo's going to have the advantage because that's a position where i think the steelers feel they have an edge offensively matching up against buffalo's defense third down and four o'clock once again with the receivers covered this time able to pick up the first down slides inside the 40. buffalo covered the play very well there's a little fracas down there and the official stops the clock [Music] pittsburgh uses a timeout but buffalo had that play well defense but o'donnell just took what he had and scrambled for the first down o'donnell running for 16 yards o'donnell looking for his receivers can't find him pulls it down dodges a couple guys gets between tries to protect the ball and then finally gets on the ground and jones getting involved with a couple of steelers bruce smith working against john jackson spins takes a good shot from duvall love and it's two on one now that's like tag team wrestling right there john jackson fifth year out of eastern kentucky he's come back strong for being benched earlier in the season reclaiming his starting position and newbound love and eight-year man from ucla long-time member of the los angeles rams head coach marv levy of the buffalo bills he's made it to the super bowl back to back but lost to your giant club and the washington redskins [Applause] mills with a 7-3 lead on the steelers first down at the 33 in capital territory elgato rifles one that is intercepted j.d williams picking it off and o'donnell intercepted for the second time today i think o'donnell had his mind made up on that particular pattern it was a 2d zone with the corner sinking back there and o'donnell just made up his mind that that's where he was going to go with the ball and j.d williams just running and then releasing the receiver and then seeing that the ball is coming just continues on and you know it's just like he was thrown at the williams williams has had his ups and downs this season he has been the starter at left corner with kirby jackson bothered by the pulled hamstring jackson working as a nickelback james williams in his third year from fresno state a first-round draft pick back in 1990 and buffalo takes over 58 seconds to go in the first half here's thomas spinning his way to the 25 yard line buffalo still has their three timeouts but they don't look quite as urgent on the two-minute offense i think reich is looking to to get one big play down the field before he really gets into that two-minute mode here's thomas changing the direction of that trip down you saw the three turnovers committed by pittsburgh two interceptions and one strip of o'donnell [Music] and now the timeout is taken apparently by pittsburgh well pittsburgh realized that buffalo was going to just run the clock out and i think they want to create maybe if they can a punk blocking opportunity for themselves which could you know result in some points that really is probably the only way that they're going to be able to to realistically score any points with only 25 seconds to go so i think that's what they're trying to set up for themselves head coach bill cower 35 years of age second youngest head coach in the nfl and he has a very young squad look at the postseason experience as you compare the bills and the steelers yeah but he also said and i agree with him that that the experience only means something up until the time the game starts experience is how you deal with the distractions you know the big win last week you know buffalo probably did a good job dealing with that but once the game starts it's just a game it's you against them and i agree with that i don't think experience makes any difference once the game's coming german thomas stops short of a first down clock is running down to 15 now 16 seconds now they stop it and the steelers use their final timeout with 16 seconds to go on behalf greg greg lloyd number 95 is in backside pursuit comes all the way across the field and runs thurman thomas downs tries to strip the ball too by using his right arm down on thurman's right arm the side he was carrying the ball on but as i said before i think what pittsburgh is trying to do here using their timeouts is to set up a punt block opportunity and with a little wind you know sometimes those snaps can be a little arrogant and if it's not on the money and you've got the right rush on you have a chance that bank grew up in crafton pennsylvania 15-minute drive to three rivers so a pittsburgh area native and he's done it under the glare of his hometown spotlight and he's followed a legend chuck cole and the by moore to nancy and he handles it fair catch at the 27-yard line fourth punt by moore goes for 46 yards eight seconds remaining in the half 27. there's nancy thick number 82 second-year man from winston-salem state [Music] and hill o'donnell running back on the pittsburgh offense taking over at the 27-yard line buffalo with a 7-3 lead an unlikely touchdown combination frank reich to the back-up offensive lineman mitch for rod who did catch a touchdown pass in the earlier meeting against pittsburgh and he's bought three this season so that's the end of the first half the buffalo bills with a 7-3 lead on the pittsburgh steelers the pittsburgh points supplied on a 38-yard field goal by gary anderson that was early in the game right now let's go to bob costas in new york for the domino's pizza nfl live halftime report this is the domino's pizza nfl live halftime report brought to you by domino's pizza where you always get great pizza plus something for nothing well buffalo with the lead at 7-3 although pittsburgh controls the time of possession those three turnovers really hurt him in the first half buffalo side of it critical in the second half you can see thurman thomas and bruce smith a playing in pain they have to stay on the field i think for buffalo to win unimposing numbers for frank wright but as we all know he doesn't get going in any game until the second half what are your thoughts on neil o'donnell well he started off real well made some big throws in the same area got some good runs for first downs but two interceptions in the fumble definitely have hurt him but because it stopped drives now we heard marv albert and bill parcells mention that the bills had gone to mitch ferrat for a touchdown in the game against pittsburgh in week 10 in buffalo but there's a difference between the two plays take it warren well in week 10 they lined up mitch ferrari as a tight end and they play action pass to kenneth davis and released him to the flat and they got the touchdown that way this time today they lined ferrard up as a running back as a lead full back and this way they play action pass this time to uh gartner and then they released him in the flat and here he is catching the touchdown here today so they're taking advantage of barack's athletic ability by moving them around a lot of different places it's good coaching too because they don't tip it obviously with film study they'd be aware of it if he lined up at tight end exactly they used him as a lead blocker they probably never thought they'd use him as a receiver on that play okay now the other afc divisional playoff is tomorrow at joe ravi stadium as the dolphins host the chargers we'll have it for you beginning with nfl live at 3 30 eastern time a short while ago i talked to dan marino about facing those chargers well the chargers are very enthusiastic team you can tell by looking at them on film especially defensively they're you know they're a team that loves the pursuit of the ball they really are playing well together you can tell and um you know for us we just need to go out and play our game and not have the turnovers but i have a lot of respect for them on defense they have a couple superstar players leslie o'neill and junior sal who are outstanding so we're gonna have our work cut out for us you finish up winning the division but in the first half of the year you're averaging about 27 28 points a game in the second half it falls to 17. what are the reasons for that i really think it's execution barbara offensively at the end of the year here we haven't executed as well as uh we're capable of um and the biggest problem we've had is scoring points when we get close we've been getting a lot of field goals and not scoring as many touchdowns as it would like to we've been moving the ball well throughout the year but not scoring the points and putting up the numbers that we should dan you got to the super bowl very early in your career and haven't been back you still have many good years left but are you beginning to think about that the clock ticking away there's no doubt that uh you know you think about the time and how long you've been playing in the league and i've been it's been 10 years i've been to one super bowl and you do think about you know the possibilities of your career ending or what the future is so you want to take advantage of your opportunities when you get them and this year we have an opportunity okay we heard dan marino say that junior seau and leslie o'neill are a couple of superstars on the charger defense standing by live with us from miami is junior seau and it doesn't take a genius to figure out junior that the key to the game from your standpoint is how often you and o'neill and maybe some of the others can get in mourinho's face if not sack him at least throw him off his rhythm most definitely bob you know i think that we're gonna have to play a good secondary game and put some pressure on him and definitely if you can defeat moreno you have a good chance of being miami warren moon is seated alongside now early in the year houston beat you guys 27 nothing granted it's before you got on the roll but they're a run and shoot team that throws out those multiple receivers five guys they spread you out defensively miami if they're hot can do the same thing with the two running backs the veteran receivers and of course of course keith jackson a tight end so that could be a problem for you definitely they have a you know a lot of threats on their on their side of the game and uh you know with duper and clayton on the outside you have jackson running up the seam and now they have bobby humphrey that can run the ball or catch the ball so it's going to be a good game we know how versatile you are is it possible you'd walk off into coverage on keith jackson a lot tomorrow it's possible you know we're going to kind of mix it up but yeah we're going to stay to the same formula that we've been working with throughout the year it's been working for us and you know we're not going to change dramatically and we're hoping to go out and perform well last thing real quick i know you preferred the bill arnsberger the much heralded defensive coordinator almost as a father figure to you uh like any father tells his kids some bedtime stories has he told you about his days in miami working on those super bowl teams with shula no bill really hasn't even shown any emotion i don't see bill smiling more than he has throughout the year i think he knows it's a business and he's looking out to go out there and get a victory for the team good luck tomorrow junior thanks a lot thank you okay junior seau of the chargers and coming up we'll get a report from three rivers as we check in with o.j and john dockery that's after a message from the nfl and a word from your local station why be afraid if i'm not all alone each and every moment [Music] is [Music] this is elaine chao with a special thank you to the national football league it's teams players and owners and to all of you who volunteer and contribute thanks to you united way will be there to help people all year long of you your local united way is helping where health is needed most [Music] sunday meet pinky don't take his picture you might get caught a new eyewitness video then rip off repairman caught in the act those and more eyewitness video nbc sunday as america yeah they all look innocent enough until they start ganging up on you then you'll be glad you invested in the security of jeep grand cherokee with all the time four-wheel drive an optional v8 four-wheel anti-lock brakes and an exclusive driver's side airbag because when you're outnumbered millions to one you need all the help you can get test drive jeep grand cherokee to your dealer now see your new england jeep and eagle dealer today i've seen a lot of cases where the wrong driver is charged with causing the accident witnesses sometimes make mistakes fortunately we know exactly what to do angle of impact skid marks road conditions can all help prove that a witness is raw if you've been wrongly charged with causing an accident our team of investigators can prove it we'll use their findings to get you the full compensation you deserve if you've been hurt in an accident call abrams and very now we'll make the legal system work for you sybil shepard is telling secrets on et tonight at 7. newswatch 10's gary lay is on first with your weather weeknights at 10 57 gary has your first forecast then at 11 join gary and the rest of the news watch 10 night team for everything you need for tomorrow remember gary's on first on newswatch 10. all right now who's out first right okay this is the domino's pizza nfl live halftime report brought to you by domino's pizza where you always get great pizza plus something for nothing defensive battle in pittsburgh between the steelers and the bills buffalo up 7-3 at the half now we've seen none of the sort of offense that this man o.j simpson used to supply this is an 88-yard run by the juice at three rivers in 1975 happens to be the second longest run from scrimmage in buffalo history o.j also has the longest one a 94-yarder that also came at the expense of the steelers now the other side of the coin though juice in the very stadium you're standing in your only playoff game and the steelers stuffed you that day holding you to 49 yards back in 74. well that was an excellent football team for the steelers they went on the win i think that the first of their two are back-to-back super bowls so first of their fourth super bowl is a great football team but this bill's team is a little different uh they came into the locker room part quite a contrast from last week when they were down they seemed pretty up i asked frank wright how was it out there he says uh it's tough juice they're mixing up their defense uh bruce smith uh said that uh defensively he don't think they're gonna get in the end zone today they're they they say they felt defensively they can control his football team thurman thomas says he feels great i asked carnelis bill bennett about his poor hamstring he said that he feel great so this uh this buffalo bills team is is ready for a second half uh how is it on your side john uh let me tell you see the steelers coming into the locker room right now they were relatively quiet going in juice as though they were sort of in shock they were moving the ball well they thought their offense was fine they don't have a plan for a lot of changes defensively the bills were doing exactly what they expected the whole story to the pittsburgh steelers has been turnovers a couple of interceptions and the fumble right now obviously the steelers believe they can beat the buffalo bills they believe they played well in the first half and they're just going to come out and try not to make the mistakes that hurt them in the first half bob costas back to you john thanks a lot and a reminder we'll be here after the game with a full post-game show will mcdonough warren moon and the rest will also include gail gardner's look back to the memorable playoff game between the chargers and the dolphins 11 years ago those same two teams of course play tomorrow in miami we'll also get post-game interviews from three rivers and we'll send it back to marv albert and bill parcells for the second half right after these messages from your local station why did the oscar-winning director of rain man diner good morning vietnam the natural and bugsy decide his next story could only be told on television [Music] barry levinson's homicide premieres after the super bowl on nbc just wait till you see it empire furniture has a big warehouse which is why they're having a big warehouse sale right now you'll save an amazing 30 to 50 percent during empire furniture's big warehouse sale choose from a huge selection of traditional and contemporary furnishings for your living room bedroom dining room and more plus you'll also find great savings on empire's complete line of baby room furnishings and accessories but you gotta hurry empire furniture's big warehouse sale and soon empire furniture 333 at roseable providence a midwestern millionaire's misfortune on hard copy monday at 7. back at three rivers stadium buffalo bills with a 7-3 lead on the pittsburgh steelers as we head to the second half and this is marv with the parcels as john dockery mentioned just a moment ago turnovers have certainly hurt the steelers in the first half well buffalo withstood a few of the steelers surges stillers were in scoring position a few times they had the fumble that led to the buffalo touchdown they threw the late interception when it looked like they were going to go in for a touchdown or at least another field goal to make it 7-6 you only get a few of those scoring opportunities i think the steelers got to be happy with the way they've played offensively take those turnovers away they could have the lead but they don't let's take a look at some of the halftime statistics a look at the coors light halftime stats well pittsburgh you know 16 minutes of possession and pretty good total yardage everything even except that glaring turnover statistic right there and you know that's really the difference in the game right now pittsburgh's defense i think has played exceptionally well mark and frank reich in the first half eight for 13 68 yards the one touchdown completed to the back up offensive lineman mitch ferrara a few times they had the fumble that led to the buffalo touchdown they threw the late interception when it looked like they were going to go in for a touchdown or at least another field goal to make it 7-6 you only get a few of those scoring opportunities i think the steelers got to be happy with the way they've played offensively take those turnovers away they could have the lead but they don't let's take a look at some of the halftime statistics a look at the coors light halftime stats well pittsburgh you know 16 minutes of possession and pretty good total yardage everything even except that glaring turnover statistic right there and you know that's really the difference in the game right now pittsburgh's defense i think has played exceptionally well and frank reich in the first half eight for 13 68 yards the one touchdown completed to the backup offensive lineman mitch farrot and neil o'donnell with the two interceptions and the fumble stripped by bruce smith and that cost because that led to the buffalo touchdown we are set for the kickoff steve christie will kick it off one stone is the deep man it is taken by stone [Music] out to the 30 good return by stone brad lamp ran him out of bounds a 24-yard return so pittsburgh offense back on the field the center germany dawson the guards cotton hasselrig and duvall love and at the tackles john jackson and touch elkin the steelers start out from their 35-yard line pittsburgh steelers with a record of 11-5 during the regular season want the afc central earning a buy on the first weekend of the playoffs they have home field advantage throughout the playoffs if they can't continue on barry foster for a short pick up cut off by the left defensive end phil hanson i think the start of the third quarter you know one of the things coaches always talk about at halftime is the first five minutes of the third quarter to reestablish what you're trying to do to re-establish your momentum and i think probably bill cower there talked to his steelers about hey look we've played well enough if we hadn't made those mistakes we'd be in good shape but now we've got to go back and redo this whole thing again and i'm sure offensively that's the way they're trying to start this third quarter mills to the left and thompson flanked to the right back to the ground for foster and foster has a first down [Music] this is one of the plays that is left over from the chuck noll era a little draw play that the steelers ran when chuck noll was the coach it looks like a sprint out pass and then it's a late handoff to number 29 foster and they really don't block the outside defensive defender there they let him go and slip inside him on the run and that's a play that ron earhart copied from chuck noll foster went for 17. it's foster again he's tripped up back behind the line smith and wright were right there jeff wright number 91 is an outstanding nose tackle and he's working this time against number 63 germany dawson and wright was off set a little to dawson's right hand side and just that little bit of offset aligned alignment enabled him to get good penetration and not foster down for a loss jeff wright had a strong game last week two sacks against houston eighth round brad pitt back in 88 out of central missouri state second down and 12. and o'donnell completes for the first down to bills ernie mills has been a factor travels his fourth catch of the day he was hit by daryl talley that's another one of those patterns you see mills on top of the screen that's going to run a little turn in but you can credit the pass protection of the steelers for allowing you know mills the time to work in between the zone and it is tally who is hurt buffalo bills have been hard hit by injury now tally is down we'll take a break back after this if you think these guys are tough on each other you should see how we tested the oldsmobile achiever because we recently pitted it against the honda accord and toyota camry and after 100 000 miles in an independent test in the real world guess who won it's your choice [Music] why would anyone stay in a place where the night lasts for six months come on let me show you where [Music] great taste in a less filling beer is pretty important especially when you have a long evening in front of you working nights is gonna kill me miller light it's everything you want a beer to be when you run from hertz in florida you got more than a great car at a great rate the real bargain is the company behind the car because whatever it takes to make your vacation go smoothly hertz is there to make it happen from emergency road service this is close as a phone to free unlimited mileage think about it next time you're in florida wouldn't you feel better with hertz behind you [Music] the nfl on nbc is brought to you by miller lite an official sponsor of the nfl and super bowl 27 by oldsmobile the power of intelligent engineering by subway the place where fresh is the tape and by gte telecommunications consultant to the nfl [Music] there's daryl talley who was shaken up and apparently is all right but he has been replaced by the rookie from penn state firm around brad pitt keith duganes first down of the 37th buffalo territory foster going wide reaches to the 30-yard line marcus patton made the stop well you see very few inside running plays for the steelers today good blocking lead block by merle hodge gets a good block on patton which creates the corner for foster he comes around and bennett's been able to come over and make the tackle but when you can pick up seven on first down you're in pretty good shape on the running game harry foster having an outstanding regular season 690 yards second behind emmitt smith of dallas and a penalty flag has been thrown so foster stopped by tally who checked back in goganus in there for that one play and the face mask indicated against pittsburgh that's a very unusual penalty to incur when you're on offense most of the time any face mass infractions occur defensively but occasionally your blocker may put his hands up under a defensive player's face mask in an attempt to block him and push him and that's probably what happened illegal use of hands number 86 on the offense grabbing the face mask of the defender 10 yard penalty repeat the down that's the tight end eric green first penalty called on the steelers this afternoon on the left side of the screen eric green number 86 just has his right arm on daryl talley's face mask and of course tally's making the call for the official and most of the guys do when they get the face pass they give the signal also sets it back to a second and nine at the buffalo 36 four minutes got by in the third quarter again the fake on the umber run and it was nearly picked off tally had a shot at it well that was another one of those trick plays where they were faking a sweep and a reverse and you see bruce smith there with that rib that he's had for a couple of weeks now and he's been playing with a flat jacket he's played hurt the last few weeks he's working against duvall love and comes clean and just makes a sack on o'donnell there and apparently torques himself some way to affect his ribs and [Music] when it comes to getting around town nothing outperforms your phone so make the call before you make the drive are you looking for a car with exceptional value because the oldsmobile cutlass supreme special edition has got a v6 4-speed automatic air cruise control tilt wheel power windows and locks am fm cassette and lots of other neat stuff and it costs only 15 995 well you probably want to get back to the game it's your money the defense calls rebecca you cannot get away with murder you don't have probable cause sure i do marsha's will leaves all eight million dollars to your client the whole situation was unnatural he couldn't handle it she got off on the controller walk away they can't wait to convict me all you need is a reasonable doubt body of evidence rated r starts friday at theaters everywhere well bruce smith hurt the ribs once again [Applause] he's been replaced by mike so smith to the sideline it's a third down and nine for o'donnell and it's broken up late odors getting in front of the intended receiver yancey this bed that play was well defensed by nate odoms o'donnell trying to find his receiver eventually goes to number 82 thick pen but odoms gets there right on time and makes the good defensive play and forces pittsburgh into the punting situation well with jeff graham playing with a sprained ankle coming into today with a sprained ankle we have seen bernie bills and charles davenport and nancy thigpen as intended receivers henry jones let that one go by carries to the end zone 36 yard punt 10 44 remaining third quarter oldsmobile presents you make the call seeking to conserve time on the clock a member of the bengals punt return team kicks the ball out of bounds to stop the clock now you make the call is this a legal tactic so you're buying a new car well did you know that in a recent dependability study the oldsmobile 88 was unsurpassed by either in fact after two years it was as problem-free as bmw it was even unsurpassed by mercedes-benz yeah we know it's your money what call did you make it is never legal for any player to deliberately kick any loose ball except as a punt drop kick or placement this is not a legal play assess the bengals a 10 yard penalty for deliberately kicking a loose ball our six-inch meatball sub features meatballs and sauce on bread i just baked all for a low economical price i won't say how low but you'll probably find enough in the cushions of your couch the six-inch meatball sub only 1.69 only at subway i shampoo for dandruff but my scalp still itches now there's scalpers and for deep scalp itch not ordinary dandruff it's clear liquid not shampoo with itch medicine doctors chose over these dandruff shampoo formulas the itch is gone scalpism rod woodson on the pittsburgh sideline replaced by sammy walker rod woodson took a blow to the head earlier and they are checking for a concussion so he'll sit out at least for the moment but two of the big weapons for for both teams bruce smith on one side and rod woodson number 26 you see there on the other side are now on the sidelines and that forces sammy walker number 23 out there on don bibi and he's the one that had all the problems [Music] thurman thomas gets the call yes sammy walker had a very difficult time with pb of that earlier meeting this back in week number 10. well this set up a lot of the catches even though bb dropped this pass here and set up a lot of the short patterns against walker the rest of the day he be catching a short hitch pattern and [Applause] to keep the then down going and i'm sure that frank reich eventually will go over there and test sammy walker right going to kenneth davis who picked up that first down buffalo first down from their 38-yard line the bill's seven and the steelers three five minutes gone by in the third quarter frank's right for the injured jim kelly cutting off the miraculous cut from behind victory last week against houston no sideline and he completes to james lofton for often his first catch of the day but it didn't take long for right to decide to test sammy walker he has a pretty good cushion on james lofton number 80. you see walker working and lofton just hitching up and then turning up for the first down but i think that this matchup can be controlled a little bit if they use a little 2d zone to help walker from time to time first down at midfield acceleration by davis he advanced at three yards greg lloyd made the stop second and seventh at the 47. buffalo bills finished the regular season and 11 and five in the wildfire last group pulled off the dramatic comeback the greatest in nfl history and the flags the throne looked to be the left tackle will wolford if the buffalo fills number 69 on the offense prior to the snap five yard penalty still second down so it is wolford call see him on the left side of the screen there wolford now i'm pretty sure that was a running play he was anticipating a quick count and he didn't get it and that's why he was outside second and eleven [Music] so they are going right at sammy walker well i think the buffalo passing game is going to be restricted to that side of the field until center pass interference number 23 until sammy walker proves he can do something about it now there's james lofton hooking up walker just a little early on lofton's back you know that call could go either way that's pretty well defense but it didn't go for walker this time and i'm sure wright's going to stay on first round of the 38 yard line back to the ground thomas inside the 35 sammy walker is a second year player out of texas tech last year as a rookie was set back by a knee problem and had a very long afternoon in trying to cover don b during the regular season he with rod is forced to the sideline after taking a blow to the head [Applause] [Music] in the third quarter second at six at the pittsburgh 34. it was covered by the free safety of the rookie darren perry darren perry is the guy that's come in and played wealth as dealers and rookie it's unusual that a rookie can come in and start at free safety i think it's probably the most complicated position in the secondary you've got to kind of be the field general back there making sure everyone else gets the call and it's a little unusual after darren perry's credit that he's able to come in here and fill the spot left left by thomas everett when he was training for the dallas cowboys seventh play of the drive third down and the six and it's a first down picked up by bibi sideline pattern and phoebe covered by walker makes his fourth catch of the day well frank wright just knows where to go with the ball and this is a blitz situation pittsburgh trying to get a little pressure but thurman thomas steps up and blocks nickerson well and it's one on one outside and again not to beat a dead horse but they're going to go with sammy walker until he can do something about it here's thomas in fact this whole game plan since ratz woodson has gone out has consisted of runs up the middle and throws at sammy walker with the exception of the one long pass to james lofton the whole buffalo play selection has just been up the middle on the running game and outside on the right side toward sami walker in the passing game second and eight at the 23. [Applause] [Music] again [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's a situation i think where pittsburgh was anticipating a pass and ran a blitz and they happened to run right into the running play that buffalo had called but again this creates the matchup again third down and long they're in field goal range and i would keep my eye on james lofton if i were in pittsburgh still locked him to the right andre reed who has been silent to this point from the slot left side again to the right and it's thomas out of the backfield cutting for the first down gets inside the 15. well this time buffalo has the screen set up long yardage good play call they get their best guy in the open field with some blockers in front of them good block by number 74 glenn parker there and they're able to pick up the first down german thomas running it down to the 14-yard line we come up on five minutes remaining in the third quarter buffalo seven pittsburgh three first down at the 14. pittsburgh has just changed their defense to their basic 3-4 and frank wright is having to call an audible against him he doesn't get it done on time so he has to call a timeout or as a delay a game rather than a timeout but that was all caused by pittsburgh changing their defensive scheme and putting their basic 3-4 scheme back in the game barb levy now looking at a first and 15 back at the 19. penalty assessed on buffalo [Applause] here's davis short advance for kenneth davis gerald williams and hardy nickerson combined to make the stop [Music] well bill gower you know knowing that his defense is being tested here has put his best starting defensive players with the exception of woodson back on the field now they have number 24 richard shelton playing instead of sammy walker at that point second and thirteen and rights pass almost intercepted it was shelton who had a shot at the pass intended for bb [Music] well right of course they anticipating walker still being out there and shelton sits down on this pattern just a little bit and anticipates wright's throwing it and just comes up and almost makes the interception richard shell in his third year out of liberty originally an 11th round draft pick of denver played a bit with montreal of the world league 13th player of this drive the drive that began at buffalo's 20-yard line it's lasted for six minutes right throwing touchdown james lofton he beat sammy walker so james lofton who was not a target earlier in the day comes up with his second catch this one for the score james lofton a player who had some dropsy problems earlier this season and he puts up the six 13 plays 80 yards here is steve christie [Music] the buffalo bills have now taken a 14-3 lead on the pittsburgh steelers well james laflin just working one-on-one eludes walker to the outside walker loses his balance right just lays it over his head it's a touchdown for buffalo and this is going to force pittsburgh to open up their offense mind readers communicating with other minds the next life please powerful messages [Music] you know i am [Music] when you're thinking great taste and a less filling beer miller likes everything you want a beer to be rules of dating number five always practice safe sex should i be using some surgical protection next rated r at theaters january 22nd next time you're dining out ponder this the discover card pays you a cashback bonus on every meal you charge which means you shall soon acquire a small fortune it pays to discover two years ago the editors of consumers digest named a very special car to their best buy list [Music] last year they did it again so this year it was a great honor when they did it for a third year running which means there are now best buys and consistently best buys your choice [Music] here's just some of the exciting action from the skills challenge the inaugural skills challenge presented by enterprise read-a-car january 23rd on nbc [Music] the buffalo bills with a 14-3 lead as they kick it off and it's taken by one of the up men yet nancy pickband returns across the 25 mark pike on the stop 352 remaining in the third i'm chief financial officer i'm a vice president i'm the president i'm a pending pitcher we pinch pennies we own the place i'm an accountant i make all the financial decisions it's a nickel i wanted sure it's only money it's my money buck saved as a buck earned absolutely just trying to see me get more bang for the buck what overnight service would i recommend ups ups ups saves us a lot of money probably 20 to 30 30 40 percent usually 40 you bet when you say 40 10 30 guaranteed ups ups united parcel they give you the best service for the best dollars how can you beat that it's 30 below you've got a cold cough you've got a real problem we've added the leading cough suppressant to the proven cold relief of alka-seltzer plus i have no sneezes no coughs no runny nose i took alka-seltzer plus cold and cough this morning alka-seltzer plus cold and cough it's tough medicine with russ beeler's in lost in town he served kfc super value buckets get 15 pieces of original recipe or a bucket full of hot wing pieces the kfc super value buckets just 9.99 each to get rid of her gray my wife can spend 40 minutes but i discovered the five-minute hair coloring the revolutionary discovery called just for men from the leader in men's hair coloring simply apply just for men and in five minutes shampoo out gray is blended away the look of my natural color is back in five minutes that was me and it won't fade or wash out my hair takes forever but you look great in just five minutes the look of your natural color in just five minutes with just for men the chargers led by a relentless defense fresh off a playoff shutout the afc west champions of the nfl's hottest team the dolphins mourinho and the afc east champions are rested and raring to gold the winners one step from the super bowl the losers on vacation the afc divisional playoffs continue sunday [Applause] [Music] pittsburgh steeler offensive coordinator ron earhart does he begin to open things up right here well i don't think you take any unnecessary chances but you need two scores and you're gonna have to get them you know you're gonna have to get one of them pretty soon so i think you'll see a spread out offense from around right now steelers from a 27 stream developing for foster [Applause] mary foster with the first down phil hanson made the stop first reception of the day for foster well i think that's a good play selection buffalo in a pass rush mode after they get the lead start with a screen and catch a zone defense there foster runs through number 58 shane conlon and hanson comes over and makes the play but that's a good way to start your offense left thompson right first down from the 38th with a first down catch at midfield in front of nate odom looked like neil o'donnell was hurt i don't think he's coming out unless they have to come and carry him off though marvie stetson throws a little outcut there and may hit his hand on duval love shoulder pad he's not coming out for a little hurt finger here he has a first down at [Music] [Applause] spinning midfield and has a first down inside before he brought kelso up from the free safety position to make the stop that's just an unbelievable run by barry foster there they don't have anybody blocked he is all the buffalo guys right in his way he just spins and does a 360 and comes out of the pile and breaks a few tackles and comes down the field and gets the first down on his own that's just unbelievable runner by barry foster bruce smith who hurt his ribs early in this third quarter is on the sideline keith willis playing up front with paul hanson and jeff wright and o'donnell's pass incomplete penalty marker down interference on j.d williams the pass intended for ernie mills [Applause] that was a late flag came from the field judge the guy on the sideline who saw the play didn't call it number 29 you know if you're not allowed to do what williams did there then i don't think you can really play fast defense because i didn't see him do anything wrong [Music] i mean you gotta let these defensive backs do something and sets it as a first down at the 21-yard line crosstalk defect that's stone in motion foster so he has got over the 100-yard mark stopped by hanson and patton well here's that pass interference again ernie mills number 89 working inside there's williams as i said if you can't do that then you might as well have nobody out there and just throw it against the air because that was good pass defense by jd williams somehow i get the feeling that there were officials on the sideline over the years that heard the very explanation second down and four o'donnell [Music] he had the tight end eric green in the area we're told from the buffalo sideline that the bills do expect that bruce smith will be able to return well that would be a big help to the bills but i'm certain that the steelers would rather have it that rod woodson were able to return the way this has been going right now this third down right here i think is the biggest play of the game for the steelers uh to this point they need to keep this drive going and get it in for a touchdown rather than having to settle for a field goal or a fourth down and a ten left third quarter it is a third and four at the 15 and o'donnell doesn't complete broken up by with play in front of phils nate odoms has been outstanding right throughout well nate odin's anticipated that slam cut by mills it's the same play on the other side and now owens is there a little early now if you want to call past defense uh pass interference you might have called it on that play but not on the other one that williams had pittsburgh settling for the field goal here 32-yard attempt earlier anderson a one-time buffalo bill 38 and the snap was covered mark wales is brought down by marquez well last week the buffalo bills going up against the houston oilers saw the the miscue on the snap by the punter greg montgomery and here mark royals fields a low snap and could not find the handle well you know in the statistics that's not going to be called the turnover but it's the same as a turnover so pittsburgh has been in the scoring zone now three times and they've lost three their last three opportunities by turning the ball over one fumble one interception and this fumbled snap on the field goal and remember this is club that has struggled offensively in the latter portion of the season but keller takes the hit from nickerson keith mckello the tight end coming up with his first reception and rod woodson back on the field sammy walker back to the bench pittsburgh's defense is going to have to to do something to give their offense a chance to win this game they've played very very well on defense all game but they haven't been able to create that big play defensively other than that early fourth down stop that got the steelers the first field goal huge turnaround play as you're watching davis pick up yardage on the slant richard shelton with the opportunity for the interception had a clear field in front of him but could not hold on well a few plays or a few little things always make these playoff games go one or the other that draft interception that fumble field goal snap or two of those complex third quarter is over we'll be back after this from your local station sunday one show has it all dramas based on actual casinos wow a new case from their files secret service nbc sunday hi i'm john conte from smithfield nissan new england's fastest growing nissan dealer if you're looking for a new car truck come in and check out our holiday special why the holiday specials because there's no down payment listen to this a 93 center sports sedan only 145 per month no down payment or a 93 pickup truck only 155 per month no down payment so if you're looking for low low payments and no down payment stop in and see me john conte the new kid on the block at smithfield nissan and route 116 smithfield [Music] train for the jobs of the future today at new england tech choose from 17 exciting career programs new england tech for over 50 years the leader in technical career education [Music] don't wait call new england tech at 467-7744 today 467-7744 gentlemen he is not a happy man this mercury villager is out selling our minivan and as his top design team we have to do something about it he wants a minivan with a sliding rear seat and standard anti-lock brakes he wants a minivan that is fully equipped comfortable and drives like a mercury why doesn't he just get a villager the new front-wheel drive mercury villager all this and the quality of a mercury mailroom providence mayor vincent cianci sunday morning at 10. [Music] bruce smith making his way back out of the field i'm told he was x-rayed back in the locker room looked like he re-injured his ribs the bills expect that he will return fourth quarter is [Music] [Applause] [Music] inside the 45 richard shelton brought him down that's a 23-yard pickup but keith mckeller working against number 24 richard shelton runs a little bow out pattern there right puts it there right on time mckellar gets the turn up with it at 245 pounds he's hard to wrestle down it takes a couple of them and now buffalo's threatening to to make it real difficult on pittsburgh if they could put one more scorer up on the board right now the hills 14 the steelers three as we get started in the fourth quarter and thomas for a short pickup aaron jones made the stop 17 carries 51 yards now they've removed the shoulder pads of bruce smith see the flak jacket to protect the cracked ribs well by the time he gets dressed and undressed though the game might be over i guess we've been wearing one of those is intended for bibi i can tell you bruce smith was on my team i've had i'd have more than one guy dressing him over there there's one guy there kind of help him i've had i'd have a whole crew over there trying to get him ready to go with that flak jacket put his shirt and his helmet back on and get him up to the sideline and stand him right next to me that's what i should do movie made the catch picks up [Music] [Applause] [Music] this time for 14 and that is his sixth catch of the day well as we said it's the buffalo wine outs against the pittsburgh corners and that was probably going to be the determining factor in the game and so far you have to give the big edge to the buffalo white outs because they're starting to put up some numbers and some touchdowns now last year day of his nfl career against pittsburgh stormed four touchdowns earlier this season against pittsburgh eight reception 104 yards thomas loss of a yard on the play it's a second and 11 at the 22. pittsburgh has done a very good job against the buffalo running game uh buffalo hasn't managed to really have a lot of consistency in the running game so that's an improvement from the first time they met but right now the passing game again has been won by the pittsburgh i mean the buffalo receivers against the pittsburgh defender [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] andre reed has not been able to get into it today he had been complaining that he was out of the offense certainly back into it last week against houston eight catches three touchdowns but they have not been able to go his way this afternoon well both teams have tried a couple of gimmick plays and and really all of them have backfired today and you know the fans like to see those wide open reverses and reverse passes well you've seen about six of them today and all of them have resulted in bad plays you say that with three as one who has not been a great fan of the deceptive style of football here's thomas on the inside handoff to the 25-yard line well marv levy trying to get the ball back in field goal range good play selection there with the draw and he's just trying to put the ball in front of the goal post and and uh trying to go up 17-3 and steve christie will attack from 42 yards out last week his 32-yard field goal in overtime only the second game winner of his nfl career puts him down [Applause] christy is right on target officially they are calling it a 43-yard field goal the bills now lead 17-3 it couldn't have happened at the worst time for us that's the week that we take more catalog orders on our 800 number than any other week of the year no one could make it into work that day att saved the day for us we had designed their 800 service with such powerful backup features that within minutes they were able to reroute their calls to other sites around the country they did a full day of christmas season business and no one was there if you have a business that lives and dies about 800 service you go with the most reliable and that's a t [Music] no uber not in your [Music] here have a potato chip instead tired of those burnt spotted ordinary chips now that lays has created a chip so perfectly golden nothing less will do today's lace one taste and you'll cash in your old chips [Music] the nfl on nbc is brought to you by the heartbeat of america chevrolet and your local chevy dealer buy lay's potato chips one taste and go cash in your old chips buy at t the right choice and by federal express for documents packages and freight worldwide our most important package is yours marv albert bill parcells from pittsburgh where the bills now lead the steelers by the score of 17-3 white stone off a return and he's hit down from behind by carwell gardner jogger in a foot race chasing him down well the tight ends have been very quiet this afternoon steel is not looking for the combination of adrian cooper and eric green until the third quarter eric green early of the season bothered by a shoulder problem and served a six-week suspension for drug use so they have not they've been effective in recent weeks uh you know that's always been a staple of ground air arts pass offense and i'm sure this offense has to open up these tight ends will be a factor pretty quick swing pass for foster and he is tackled behind the line by marcus pratt bruce smith has returned although an obvious pain re-aggravating the the rib problem but smith is back on the field well it's going to be mostly pass for pittsburgh now because the time is is definitely a factor with 9 35 to go in the game and needing two scorers i think pittsburgh cannot afford to just methodically drive the ball for one of those scores they've got to get it down the field and into the end zone very quickly it's a has been his favorite target that's his sixth catch of the day odom's and williams are the coverage the initial coverage by buffalo was good but again the pass protection on both sides has been very good today and enables o'donnell to pull the ball down and get it out to mills on the sideline then he gets out of bounds which is good also because it it stops the clock temporarily just under nine minutes remaining fourth quarter the steelers first down from their 36. swing pass for the running back foster he is stopped at the line by tally well i mentioned earlier that this and it looks like there is a player down injured john jackson the left tackle is hurt he's pulling out for the screen you know they usually put some linemen in front of the defenders tally comes up and just beats germany dawson to barry foster and makes a good job good tackle in the open field dominoes presents something for nothing something for nothing it's really [Music] free domino's twisty bread and our free salad with any large pizza one or more toppings delivered hot and fresh in 30 minutes guaranteed for nothing for nothing go ahead marcy it's easy but sir [Music] no that life will do almost anything to make sure customer claims are paid promptly get mad it pays this man has two of the fastest feet in the world but even they can't pump a break as fast as this chevy cavaliers standard anti-lock brake system oh yeah without abs no matter how fast your feet are this can happen whoa but to help you stop and steer on slippery surfaces cavaliers anti-lock brakes pump on and off up to 15 times a second yeah but can they do this the safety of abs what else would you expect from the heartbeat of america the nfl on nbc is brought to you by domino's call domino's pizza now and you'll be enjoying free twisty bread and a free garden fresh salad with a large one-topping pizza when the game is over john jackson the injured player he was coming out to try to help on the screen pass and he jumped up in the air you see him to the right of the screen there number 65 and he it looks like foster may trap his leg but then jackson just jumps over the pile and gets hit by number 55 mark maddox and it just never gets up from [Music] and they continue to check over the left tackle john jackson eight and a half remaining in this fourth quarter a reminder tomorrow the afc divisional playoffs continue junior seau on the left dan burrito on the right san diego and miami the winner advancing to the afc title game next sunday against the winner of our game coverage begins with nfl live starting 3 30 p.m eastern time bob and will in the studio oj simpson and todd christensen reporting from miami and a special guest in the studio former chicago bears head coach mike ditka that'll be tomorrow starting 3 30 eastern time [Music] pittsburgh steel is very concerned about their teammate john jackson as they bring out the stretchers [Music] john jackson will be very carefully placed on the stretcher though we've seen too much of this this year we did the game that saw dennis byrd go down but i think yeah we have seen too much of it and i think all the doctors around the league and rightfully so are exercising every precaution in the case of any injury that looks like it may be serious in nature i think they're taking every precautionary measure until they determine exactly what happened not to suggest the seriousness of this when we talk about the dennis bird injury here's another look at and what took place well jackson's coming out on the right of the screen he looks fine right there okay now i don't really think he gets his leg caught under foster i think he gets hit by number 55 maddox while he's up in the air and whatever happened to him i think happened while he was up in the air and being hit by maddox [Music] so they are very carefully looking to place john jackson on the stretcher eight and a half remaining in the fourth quarter the bills lead the steelers by the score of 17 to three you called it at the time if we were to focus in on one key play it would be that near interception right here richard shelton had a shot at this but could not hold on well a score 7-3 and it could have easily been 10-7 pittsburgh had richard shelton been able to come up with that interception and return it for the touchdown but he wasn't able to and then lofton caught the ensuing touchdown and 14-3 and then another field goal 17-3 with 8 30 to go and pittsburgh's got to go the length of the field twice to even tie the game and you know those little things those drop boils those fumbled snaps being sacked out of field goal range when you add them all up at the end of the day [Music] that's why you lost the game it's not just one play it's all of those things together 14-point swing of that near interception though by richard shelton pittsburgh steelers going through a down period offensively toward the end of the season last four weeks of the regular season they struggled in that department they squeaked by seattle they lost at chicago lost to minnesota for their only home loss losing to the vikings six to three then beat cleveland on the final day of the regular season that led to the five week and they've managed only three points here against the bills yeah but their problem has not been being in the scoring zone if you look at the yardage right now there's only 14 yards difference one team has 17 points and the other team has three pittsburgh has 228 yards buffalo 242. pittsburgh has been inside the scoring zone five times but they've only scored once it was gary anderson on a 38-yard field goal of the first quarter to get the steelers to the early lead but then buffalo came back second quarter right with a one-yard pass it was a second and goal at the one and he was able to connect with mitch ferrat back up offensive lineman who had scored two touchdowns during the regular season that made it 7-3 bills right on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter hooking up with james lofton extending to 14-3 and a 43-yard field goal by steve krusty here in the fourth quarter giving buffalo a 17-3 lead well they've brought the ambulance out to the field many buffalo bill players over showing their concern for those who may have just tuned in or joined us a little bit uh late john jackson several minutes ago injured on the play john jackson the left tackle of the pittsburgh steelers they brought out the stretcher the ambulance driven out of the field and now john jackson is being taken via the ambulance to a local hospital eight minutes and 30 seconds to go in this fourth quarter and the bill's in command by the score of 17-3 as they very carefully place john jackson into the ambulance justin number 73 will come on replacing jackson at the left tackle position well strelzik is the guy that that's been with pittsburgh for a couple of years he plays both sides it plays both tackles and when you're a backup offensive lineman you know you have to be ready to come in play guard play tackle play the right side play the left side and you know people don't realize how much preparation a guy like justin strelzik has to do to get ready for the game because he knows he may go in it's at one of several positions and if that's the case he has to study all the different guys not just bruce smith but he has to go on the other side and study the guy he's going to be blocking over there and do a little extra work so sometimes the backups don't even get the time and practice to work with the first group but they have to be prepared to really do more than the regulars i saw the shot of bruce smith the man who faced john jackson right throughout the game extending his wishes [Music] there's always a common bond in the national football league all the players on both teams at any time something of this nature happens i think they all kind of have the same feelings about the injuries well if we do get a report before leaving the air we will certainly pass it on as john jackson is headed to a local hospital [Music] and we are set to resume i don't think it affects them i don't think it affects him players are trained to play and you know the next play is going now and everybody's active again and on that first play o'donnell able to connect with ernie mills [Music] o'donnell rolls out to his right trying to get himself a little more time and spots mill standing on the sideline and mills makes a nice catch and is able to keep his feet down inbounds but as i said pittsburgh has not got time to methodically drive the ball down the field they've got to get some chunks of yardage and into the end zone pretty quickly it's the first round of the 48-7 white stone could not hold on covered by kirby jackson it'll be a second intent at the 47. the bill 17 the steelers three with 7 46 remaining in this fourth quarter if the bills hold on and beat the steelers they will have to go to either miami or san diego for the afc championship game a win for pittsburgh which would mean a come from behind situation here they would host the afc championship game next sunday it has broken up again intended for stone the crowd looking for a call will not get it clifford hicks on the cover clifford hicks there just a little early but ball thrown over the middle of the field number 27 hicks releases onto stone just as the ball gets there and again that's one of those calls that can go either way and this time buffalo gets the call brings up the third and ten for o'donnell it's a third and ten at the 47 of stone emotion [Music] that's his second sack of the afternoon had two last week against houston well buffalo knows of course it's a passing situation smith working against strelzik jeff wright beats duval love late and comes in as o'donnell tries to scramble and makes the sack and henry jones rather clifford hicks back pedaling and makes the catch 41-yard punt we'll be back in a moment have you noticed that keeping up with your competition has gotten tougher morning pierre [Music] well maybe it's because your competition has gotten tougher to keep up with good morning because he's using express freighter from federal express it's the only way to get shipments from around the world sent overnight by 10 30 the next morning so don't wait until things get out of hand use express freighter from federal express starting now your photos have the power of television introducing the kodak photo cd don't believe your heart your pictures taken with your current film and camera transferred onto a new kind of compact disc and shown on tv the special photo cd player also plays audio cds the new kodak photo cd system you've got to see it everything we put into the chevy lumina is backed by a bumper-to-bumper warranty and we mean everything for three years or 36 thousand miles you're covered and there's no deductible if anything goes wrong we'll fix it and we mean anything every chevrolet has this bumper-to-bumper warranty we build them like this we can back them like that what else would you expect from the heartbeat of america january 24th the nba game of the week returns to nbc first michael jordan the greatest superstar in all of sports visits mr robinson's neighborhood as the bulls face the spurs then it's a rematch of last year's western conference finals as even stronger jazz hosts the trailblazers an nba doubleheader january 24th moments ago you saw pittsburgh left tackle john jackson go down and we have received an early report on his condition he suffered a lower back sprain apparently had a little trouble moving one of his feet so all that you saw with the stretcher of the ambulance were for precautionary measures we hope that it is not serious it is called a lower back sprain john jackson headed to the hospital first down at the 14-yard line kev davis getting outside [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the ball will be spotted at the 45 in pittsburgh territory as davis ran for 41 yards well buffalo in a new offensive set two tight ends two backs one wide receiver first time they've been in it all day off tackle to the weak side and davis breaks it and as i said marv early this guy could play on my team anytime because he's a a full back with tailback ability and it just seems every time buffalo really needs something to happen this number 23 comes up and does his part is there a specific team we're talking about like in a near future then no there's no specific team we're talking about but this guy could play on it if there was carwel gartner submarine by dj johnson [Music] so kenneth davis has now run for 81 yards on eight carries last four possessions for buffalo all resulting in check that three out of the four resulting in scores [Music] just under six minutes fourth quarter buffalo has this one well in hand a 17-3 lead second down and two at the 37-yard line here's davis to the other side with a big hole kenneth davis accelerating for 17 more well you get the sense now with the way buffalo's able to run the ball and they hadn't been able to do that early in the game that that it's not just good buffalo blocking but rather a little of the air the pittsburgh players real realizing that the air is headed out of the balloon and their season is rapidly coming to a close you just get a little sense that the defense on the pittsburgh side a little demoralized right now it's a first down at the 19 yard line for a short advance well we discussed at the start of the game popping the question how would the buffalo bills react to that miraculous comeback of a week ago the greatest comeback in nfl history how would marv levy handle it was he concerned that the players would have a letdown and as it turns out no they have not no they haven't i kind of get the sense that buffalo is kind of rallying that underdog role here you know they they kind of gave the division away late in the season and you know they had to go on the road and win a game and come down here to pittsburgh and that great comeback last week and then coming down here and it just seems like they're kind of in a different mode you know they've been the favorite so long they've been to the super bowl and and they just seem to have a different attitude it's like they're on a little different mission right now than they have been and rod woodson headed to the pittsburgh locker room he took a blow to the head earlier and missed several series which really hurt the steelers sammy walker came on and he was a target richard shelton came on replacing rod woodson and the bills were able to take advantage down of 335 remaining in the fourth quarter it's a third down and one geiger picks up the first down carwell gardner three-year man from louisville collecting the first downs well that'll take it down toward the two-minute warning and there you see bill cower of course you know i've been down there on this short end of a couple of these playoff games and you know everybody after the game is going to be telling them it was a good season and he did a great job but there's really not any solace or consolation in his mind because when you're down there and this is happening to you what you're thinking is it's another off season or another draft and another training camp and another free season and kenneth davis goes in for the touchdown so the bills appear to have put this one out of sight with two and a half remaining and that does put the icing on the cake and just to add on to what bill cower is thinking there as i said another preseason another regular season just to get to be standing down here in the semifinal game again and you have to have a lot of luck and a lot of good fortune and a pretty good football team and some breaks go your way to get in that position and i'm sure that's what he's thinking right now although he has done a tremendous job all season they have marked it just outside the goal line so they've taken the points off the board and we'll be right back the quotes are in on the all-new geo prism a look that easily surpasses honda's best efforts to date a handsomely styled roomy refined sedan a best buy but the most impressive quote of all may be the one you get from your chevrolet geo dealer hey i'm vane of course i'm vain that's why i cool my hair the way i do i stay in shape the way i do that's why i use power stick 50 more wetness and odor fighters per stroke power stick i told you i was vain for his retirement neil mcbain had no intention of slowing down that's why dean witter mapped out his financial course with only one goal in mind we measure success one investor at a time wouldn't it be pop quiz oh no far away which beer do you think is brewed longer this one overall it has better flavor the darker [Music] of ones extra gold has moved far longer than fun seriously than budweiser 70 longer than five and you know what i can taste it slow proof for that real beer flavor in color the way beer was meant to be which may be why 58 percent of blood drinkers prefer coors extra gold i'll make it 59 and 60. of course extra gold if you're missing real taste beer is back the gold baby the name tonight it's two hours of empty nasta nurses first at 8 7 central it's empty nest i slept with charlie paired with a classic nurses nice fit blessed nine eight central another all-new breathtaking empty nest followed by a sexy new nurses two hours of empty nasty nurses starting at eight seven central nbc tonight well it appeared that a touchdown was indicated but it was not and instead badly to score and now they can put it back up on the scoreboard [Music] gardner second round draft pick three years ago out of louisville battling his way to the end zone and as i said i get the sense that the buffalo bills are kind of in that underdog role now and you know it looks like the way it's been going that second half last week and in this game today they're going to be tough for whoever they play next week [Music] the bills with a 24-3 lead on the steelers and next week the wild card underdog bills will go up against either miami or san diego against miami during the regular season they were beaten 37-10 and they defeated the dolphins 26-20 they did not play the san diego chargers well coincidentally too that win they had over miami was down in miami if i recall on a monday night and the loss was in buffalo so buffalo has already won one game at miami this year and prior to the game this morning jim kelly doing some light tossing his status for next week uncertain marv levy told us in very clear terms if jim kelly is healthy no matter what frank wright does today coming off the sensational comeback victory last week if jim kelly is healthy kelly is the starting quarterback well you're going to have to wait till wednesday for that answer because doing a little light tossing and going out there and playing a football game are two different things now if he can go out wednesday thursday and friday and practice for the satisfaction of everyone then he'll be the starter if not i'm pretty sure frank wright will continue along and he's proved to be a very very capable and efficient backup quarterback yes frank like did a nice job once again and the return by leroy thompson spinning his way across the 30 mark maddox made the stop getting back to the subject of the pittsburgh steelers as you mentioned although bill cower will not accept this defeat well it's been a sensational turnaround season for pittsburgh 11-5 record their best since going 12-4 back in 1979. took over and energized what appeared to be a lethargic team very enthusiastic very aggressive team a reflection of the personality of their coach well without question he's done a terrific job here and but as i said knowing bill cower just a little that i've gotten to know him this season i can assure you he's very disappointed with the way the steelers played today not to take away anything that they've done this year but it's a long year to get back to this place and you never know whether you're ever going to get back here and so it's an opportunity that has gone by the boards for the pittsburgh steelers even though it was a successful season charles davenport made his third catch of the day 42 remaining of the game o'donnell could not find anyone and he goes down for the fifth time keith willis will get credit [Music] a minute and 35 remaining in this fourth quarter reminder tomorrow on the pre-game show on nfl live preceding the miami san diego game mike tipton will be in the studio to get to o'donnell again at whistle day keith willis and mark pike combining to make the tackle mike dipka will be in the studio joining bob costas and will mcdonough on nfl live and i'm told here's a flash for you bill on saturday night live tonight the final mike ditka the bears skit will be on what are they going to do they've lost good material here well i'll have to rush home and watch that the executive producer of nbc sports is terry o'neil our producer today tommy roy our director andy rosenberg thanks to our statistician mr stats himself elliott calve larry pollock from buffalo helping out along with our spotters michael block tim fogerty a minute and 23 remaining in this fourth quarter the buffalo bills advancing to the afc championship game they will play in either miami or san diego next weekend and i hope you stay with us after the conclusion of the steelers and the bills for the old spice nfl post game report a staff of thousands as o'donnell is chased once again o.j simpson will mcdonagh john dockery warren moon looking back at this one that's coming up following the conclusion we have a minute and 16 remaining also time permitting and thinking about about tomorrow's game between the chargers and dolphins gail gardner will be taking us back to that epic playoff game that those two teams played back in 1981 eventually won by the san diego chargers in overtime well that's the famous hook and lateral play there that was used later on the ball to tony nathan i'd be kind of interested to see if marv levy is going to take his team to a warm weather site to practice for either miami or san diego or whether he's going to go back to buffalo bernie mills with another catch that is his eighth of the day john docker o.j simpson will have interviews in the locker room of the steelers and the bills as we wind down a minute and 10 remaining in this fourth quarter and the bills taking over on downs for the buffalo bills a regular season of 11 and five followed up by the improbable win in the wild card last week against houston it's been a a roller coaster year for the bills on a roll earlier were beaten by miami as you mentioned week number five hit a down period losses to the colts and the jets and then appears to snap out of it with victories over denver and new orleans injuries to keep players affecting the team but here they are headed to the afc championship game once again they will be the first team since the raiders to play in three consecutive afc championships raiders did it from 1972 to 1976 and frank reich and the bills are just running the clock down rake will finish 16 of 23 156 yards two touchdowns did a nice job once again the bill's going for 172 yards on the ground and a solid game for kenneth davis to provide a lift along with thurman thomas but i think buffalo has to feel good about where they are now you know they were they were in the grave a week ago at halftime and now they're out and prospering and and probably looking forward to the big game next week and a possible return to their third consecutive super bowl certainly a tribute to their organization and buffalo now has won the last five over pittsburgh let's go to john docker coach i know this is not the way he wanted a really good season he seemed able to move the ball early but not score well he turned the ball over three times at a point in the game where i thought it could have gone either way and you know that's a good football team i you know i'll say this buffalo has come back and maybe this is you there maybe our team of destiny maybe they approved it last week but we had our chances early and now we couldn't do anything with it do you think it had anything to do with playoff inexperience no i don't think so i think when you're playing good teams you can't turn the ball over and that's what we did early and now we couldn't find our way back okay coach thank you oj now over to you with frank wright okay i'm here with frank rock and don beebe uh tell me that the point of the game seemed to change when ron woodson went out of the game that you guys were aware that walker was in it to go after him as dramatically as as it appeared rod's a great corner but no we didn't really know that he was out you know that we just were trying to execute what we could do and you know don had a big game and uh it's no secret that i like going to him he's a very talented receiver and he often gets overlooked in our offense so but i don't i think this year he's got a great year and what a weapon he is tom why do you always have such success against pittsburgh well first i'd like to say thanks to frank for popping me up so good but now frank uh it's more coincidence than anything else i think they they tend to shut up shut off over the middle things and we can get the outside routes and that's what we did what about the third quarter you were trying to go to bibi and and it was almost intercepted by sheldon went the other way what happened on that play i just made a bad read uh you know i pete actually pete metzler was open i just made it a bad read but again i just thank the defense for playing a great game the offense we're hanging in here but most of all i thank god for the strength and just for the courage that this team can continue on well congratulations see you in uh either miami in san diego next week john dockery over to you oj i'm over here with rod woodson rod what happened in the first half wow we just couldn't get them generate really the whole game it was one of those things that uh we're trying and uh just couldn't get done generating an offensive defense you know we had to stop and we didn't and uh they made big plays and we didn't that's the bottom line what happened to you though in the first half you get a concussion yeah i got a little banged up in the head and the second half came back and broke my hand so it's you know hell of a game you broke your hand in the second half did they go after sammy walker um it seemed that way i didn't even see you know the game that when i was gone i didn't see any of that but uh you know what i heard they went at them a couple times and they uh they got him on touchdown so you know just one of those things that we learned from it and uh you know this is the first year under the system we're gonna be back we'll definitely be back okay thank you very much uh rod woodson good luck to you and marv back up to you and bill all right john again the final score buffalo bills 24 pittsburgh steelers three so the bills are headed back to the afc championship game now stay tuned for bob costas the old spice nfl post game report coming up right after these messages i'm sure you work in an office eight o'clock what do you mean [Music] you live on the phone which is why you should know about centre net service from gte with centrenet you get the features and flexibility of the most sophisticated business telephone system not the high cost of one really really difficult for me right now because while you spend most of your time on the phone you hung there's no need to spend most of your money all right so the steelers with four turnovers today all of them came in buffalo territory and how about frank wright's numbers now in eight career starts 62 completions 16 touchdowns and just three interceptions buffalo advances against either miami or san diego 24-3 steelers with a fine season that ends today on their home turf a reminder that the redskins and 49ers don't kick off until 403 eastern time so we invite you now to stay with us for the old spice post game report we will go back to three rivers stadium for additional post-game interviews and also we'll talk about the game tomorrow in miami as san diego visits the dolphins in the other afc divisional playoff and gail gardner will join us to take a look back at that memorable game the two teams played 11 years ago in fact we'll begin with that as the busy post-game show continues right after these messages from your local station please stay with us [Music] a happily married psychiatrist is seduced by a patient who could destroy the only thing he loves you can't get away from me tim mathis in mind of a killer nbc monday think smart think safe think grand marquis and think about this now for 1993 mercury grand marquis offers the protection of dual airbags as standard equipment as well as available abs brakes and what's more beyond safety you'll find v8 power room and comfort for six plus now get one thousand dollars cash back so think smart think safe think grand marquis at your lincoln mercury dealer now quality style convenience and mall wide savings that's what you'll find during the warwick mall january clearance sale you'll enjoy shopping in the mall's inviting interior and dining in new england's largest carousel food court there's never been a better time to shop and save come to warwick mall during our january mall wide clearance sale and you'll see why warwick mall is the place for fashion food and fun wjar channel 10 welcomes meredith wilson's the music man coming to the providence performing arts center thursday january 28th for tickets call 421 arts a midwestern millionaire's misfortune on hard copy monday at 7. the old spice nfl live post game report brought to you by old spice fragrance and deodorant [Music] well tomorrow the dolphins and chargers meet in a divisional playoff game at joe robbie stadium these two franchises played in one of the most memorable post-season games ever 11 years ago and of course gail gardner that one was in miami but at the old orange bowl old orange bully and it was a very steamy hot humid day that day you know but when chargers made the playoffs in 1979 it marked the first time they had gotten in since 1965 in the days of the old afl from 79 to 82 don coryell's charges made it to the postseason getting to the afc championship game twice but few playoff experiences compared to the chargers dolphins matchup in the 81 postseason [Music] that's never been done since then it was never done before that [Music] he was really on the cutting edge of passing offense in the nfl it was coryell it was his offense it was his team heir for yale perhaps the deepest and most ingrained memories of that era took place in 1981 as the charges arrived for the afc divisional game against miami in the heat and humidity of the orange bowl it's amazing how certain games sort of define a person or player's career and for most of us that play in the miami game that game was it pretty much in a quote he says you don't do this to a don schuller team in the playoffs he says he's going to pull david woodley out of the game he's going to put in strzok he's going to start throwing that football pull out all the tricks out of his bag and we're going to be here all day fans they tell me never sat down at halftime they were so excited about the play and our players were excited they couldn't wait to get back out onto the field for the second half by the fourth quarter a tony nathan sweep put the dolphins on top 38-31 but with 58 seconds left south tied it on a nine yarder to james brooks after all these years i'm willing to admit that i overthrew winslow and got very lucky and that james brooks caught the pass but strzok wasn't done yet as he got us saturday at 8 on wlne 6. last january washington's mark ripon was the most valuable player in the super bowl but after struggling through most of this season he engineered a wild card win last week that upped this postseason record to 5-1 last year steve young and the 49ers were shut out of the playoffs but this year young has earned most valuable player honors for leading san francisco to the best record in football today in the first post-season start of his career young will look to jerry rice the all-time leader in touchdown catches mark ripman has an all-time receiver of his own art monk who has caught more passes than any receiver in nfl history and speaking of history the redskins and the niners were the dominant super bowl teams of the last decade today they meet for a trip to the nfc championship clearly they've done this before [Music] good afternoon everyone and welcome i'm greg gumbel i'm terry bradshaw and we welcome you to the start of the nfc divisional playoffs coming up the washington redskins and the san francisco 49ers and without further ado let's go down on the field to candlestick park and pat o'brien hello pat hello greg hi terry hi everybody well it's a good omen for somebody here because for the first time in 10 days it is not raining in northern california you look at the field it's not in terrible shape they've had it covered for the last 10 days but it is very loose and very slippery especially out there in the middle the injury situation the niners almost injury free even tackle harris barton on the offensive line he's been out for three weeks is back on the offensive line the redskins arrived here on what a monster looks like a medevac is what they arrived on they have 10 injured players notably daryl green number 28 there was out with that heel he'll come in and nickel situations only aj johnson gets to start there the redskins feel pretty good about themselves unlike the other administration in washington they're looking for a january inaugural we talked with mark rippon earlier and i asked him can the skins repeat i think the guys you know on our team not a lot of people are giving us a chance but it's funny you know we just keep hanging around and you know we're like a fly you know you can't get rid of us sometimes and we we feel inside our organization we can we got a lot of guys that have been there before if there's been two uh veteran teams that have been through the playoffs to be the two that are playing today and i think that helps when you're in situations like this there's a chance to strike back at terry bradshaw called you disappointing player you got anything for your critic well you know terry's been there before too it's not like he's had a solid career of course he won four super bowls that uh he made up for this the slow start that he had he's a great professional a great you know player for for the nfl so i you know i guess say there's critics all over the place i've been criticized not only by him but but other quarterbacks even some that have worked in in our own organization and i find it hard sometimes where uh you know the thing you point the finger at one individual where you had the point finger point of you before too so terry you know i mean you've been there too so uh here you are i understand that uh you know we're trying to fight through this it hasn't been easy for us so take it easy on us today will you that other critic by the way was joel theismann we were talking to another uh skins great to sonny jorgensen earlier and he says to play that position you have to have thick skin as that fella sitting next to you knows so well greg back to you all right pat thanks much you know there are a lot of people who think that maybe the redskins could sneak up on the 49ers 49ers aren't going to be caught unawares today you know i had an interesting conversation with all pro titan for the 49ers brent jones and he said terry says nobody will catch us by surprise we're too meticulous pay attention to the details he said we're well prepared he said our coaches give us no job security even me the tight end even our quarterback steve young mvp in the league no job security and i'll tell you something the most important thing is this football team the 49ers realize that their success is measured only in this that's the fifth super bowl not how many wins they get during the regular season all right terry tomorrow is game two of the nfc divisional playoffs with the dallas cowboys hosting the philadelphia eagles these nfc east rivals met twice in the regular season each team claiming a victory at home the eagles welcomed back safety andre waters sidelined for nearly three months with a broken leg he was activated yesterday head coach rich kotite plans to use him in short yardage and goal line situations one man not happy about the return of andre waters is dallas running back emmitt smith after their first meeting this season on monday night smith accused waters of playing a little dirty football in the first time we met up there i received a couple shots that i thought was fairly cheap and uh and andre is known around the league for uh throwing out cheap shots so not saying that he's a cheap shot artist but he definitely does take his shots i just want to get back and get a shot at them in the playoff and uh and make him meet his word you know i think what he said was very unprofessional so it's a great motivation for me you know to get back out there just to play the cowboys again and and see what he has to say then water's main ambition to come out and and and try to ruin my career let him do it just as long as he don't ruin his own trying their own mind and joining us now live from dallas is smith's cowboy teammate white out michael irvin who gained close to 1400 yards on 78 catches this season seven of them for touchdowns michael welcome to the nfl today and let me ask you there's plenty of conversation going on here lots of material for the locker room walls have the philadelphia eagles now become the biggest rivals of the dallas cowboys well i don't know if they're our biggest rival and uh i think you got to check with our fans on that our fans here around here they love to see that washington game played here so and there have been a lot of talk going on greg and terry but we're not worried about all the talk what we're worried about is executing on the football field i mean no matter how much talking is done the game still got to be played michael the eagles are saying that while they've had to go and play a playoff game in new orleans won that one now they're on the road again to dallas to play you guys they have the momentum while the cowboys have set home and been kind of idle is that an advantage for the eagles well i don't know if it's an advantage but we thought the same thing last year when we went to chicago and beat them while detroit set home at idle and uh we went to detroit man it was it was ugly they just they kind of ripped us apart you know they had they took it to a new level it was a fresher ball club than we were we got tired at the end of the game and they just kind of ripped us so we're hoping to go that route instead of the route the eagles were talking about michael a possible match up for you on the other side mcmillan at five foot seven and you measure up at six foot two i would assume you like those kinds of odds going in yeah i would i would like it if that's the situation i don't know most of the time we play teams um a lot of times defensive teams take their best corner which is eric allen for philadelphia eagles like the dion sanders and the daryl greens and they usually follow me all around on the field i don't know if philadelphia will be doing that or not that remains to be seen tomorrow all right michael we wish you luck thanks for that for joining us today thanks for having me you bet michael irvin of the dallas cowboys now earlier today game one of the afc divisional playoffs pittsburgh the central conference champions hosting the buffalo bills and it was all buffalo 24-3 was the final score and watch frank right here one of his two touchdown passes a 19-yarder to james lofton that made it 14-3 in the third quarter and the buffalo bills are very much on a roll and by the way buffalo coach marv levy says he will start quarterback jim kelly in next sunday's afc championship game if he's healthy what do you think you were going to do i feel strongly both ways right you know no i you've got to go with kelly i mean he's your starter you don't lose the job because of injuries and all pro's one of the best in the league and if he's healthy i'm with jim kelly quarterback in my team frank ranks six touchdowns did a great job i'm not easy to say yeah start frank but you got to go with the starter all right tomorrow in the year maybe though i don't think the afc divisional playoff the miami dolphins champions of the east host the san diego chargers at joe robbie stadium the chargers are minus running back rod bernstein who suffered a sprained left ankle in last week's win over kansas city chargers quarterback stan humphries who played last week with a separated left shoulder practiced all week and will play with a special pad tomorrow the nfl's coaching employment figure jumped to four last night the new england patriots fired dick mcpherson who led the team for two losing seasons on tuesday the bears said goodbye to mike ditka after 11 eventful seasons and one super bowl championship iron mike showed his soft side at an emotional news conference i try to do this with class i don't know if i can scripture tells you that all things shall pass this too shall pass we will be talking live with mike ditka in just a few minutes meanwhile speculation about his successor continues a primary candidate richie pettibone who once starred for the bears on defense and is currently the assistant head coach defense for the washington redskins other names said to be on the bears list their running backs coach johnny rowland and dallas defensive coordinator dave wanstadt the giants are also interested in juanstat the feeling there is said to be mutual the patriots are said to be after juanstat as well but the new england job may not be as attractive as those in new york and chicago next up we'll head back out to the ballpark by the bay where pat o'brien has a conversation with the nfl's mvp 49ers quarterback steve young and randy cross joins us here with an inside look at the guys gunning for young today the washington defense that and more when we continue live from new york and san francisco on the nfl today this nfc divisional playoff edition of the nfl today is sponsored by lincoln mercury on the complete line of 1993 lincoln and mercury automobiles the ingenious products from magnavox they're smart very smart and by charles schwab and company maybe it's time to come to schwab we feel the best way to advertise a car like mercury sable is the direct approach mention the car show the car mention the interior show the interior mention the safety features show the safety features mention sable's commitment to design excellence and leadership shell the car again [Music] all this and the quality of a mercury [Music] to me there's nothing better than winning a super bowl or a nascar race but to finish strong you have to start refresh that's why my car starts with an interstate battery interstate batteries are fresh thanks to the largest dealer network and a lightning fast restocking system so insist on an interstate battery for factory fresh power look for this symbol or call 1-800 cranking and start fresh with interstate if you're paying annual fees on your ira if you buy mutual funds and pay loads or fees we have an investment breakthrough for you now only schwab gives you the lifetime guaranteed no annual fee ira and no load mutual funds from leading fund companies only schwab gives you the single best way to buy mutual funds for your retirement so if you're still paying transaction fees or loads maybe it's time to come to schwab alan spindle is one of the many people slowly waking up to the fact that only coast is the eye opener [Music] in my business my hair has to look great and even one flake is one too many so i use new head and shoulders it gets to ten times more the places where dandruff starts new head and shoulders because great hair can't have flakes well after missing the playoffs last season 49er fans at candlestick park are more than happy to welcome back a return to post-season play and we welcome back pat o'brien who's standing by pat greg you know arguably the three greatest attractions ever here at the stick the beatles willie mays and joel montana you got to pity the poor guys that replace the athletes right well maybe not willie mays leaves gary maddox comes in has a good solid baseball career and steve young he seems to be on his way to replacing joe montana but nobody knows that's replacing legends business better than steve young joe's kind of conducted the train going 90 miles an hour faster than anyone's ever made it and your challenge is to see if you can keep that flame going as high as with as much poise and with as much credibility as he did boys and credibility those are words to describe steve young this season who has taken joe's job and turned it into an mvp trophy you look at him and you say now there's the quarterback of the 90s yeah i'd love to see it really [Laughter] [Music] no problem i know i was just thinking what was it like when he went in on the detroit game if you look at the crowd reaction it was really a tribute and a great reaction for um you know a guy hasn't played in the game for two years and there was that intensity and it was almost surreal to stand in there with the rain and joe getting back on the field you enjoy friends through all this yeah and weird though it's weird but yet i think i always likened it to a big brother little brother going out in the backyard playing one-on-one you know and drawing blood who's going to win and fighting and crazy but i think that we're going to end up probably great friends because of the kind of respect that that i have for him there's no doubt does joe montana have to leave in order for this to really be your team no i mean just this week i mean it's been an amazing immense amount of you know information as we sit in film rooms and we talk about playoff games with the redskins with all this wealth of knowledge that's invaluable wealth of knowledge indeed three active quarterbacks today young montana the number two spot steve bona will hold for mike hofer it is quarterback day at the stick let's go back to the studio all right pat thanks much randy cross joins us now and randy has an inside look at what the redskins defense has to do if it hopes to shut down number one offense in the national football league it run strong and run weak i got a quarterback who can run everybody on the team catches passes there's no really one person quite a display of weapons but few are the equal of jerry rice so your top priority is to prevent rice from getting across the middle how do you do that you try to use a roll-up zone which pushes jerry rice outside and keeps him from getting into the middle of the field where he does this kind of damage and just when you thought it was safe to key on jerry as the receiver the niners now bring them out of the backfield using the same short underneath pattern they're so unpredictable you know you can't predict when they're going to do that and to think that teams can can make calls and get into different defenses because of that i really think it's a myth and the league's number three rushing attack found amply while ricky waters was recovering from a bang-up shoulder but the pro bowler is back and you add steve young he doesn't scramble often but when he does it counts steve young has over 700 yards rushing so he's always a threat as far as running the ball so we can't relax and you know this makes for for a game where you have to be very very disciplined in our pass rush you have to be very sound in what you do and i think your athletes have to make plays you just have to you have to create some turnovers and and hope that the rest of your football team plays well 92 has been a year when the redskins needed a big play or needed a turnover they got it and let's not forget these are the defending world champs you know we got a lot of guys banged up but uh we got a lot of guys on the bench too that'll bang but the thing is we just keep swapping them and then hopefully now we're getting a little healthier and the offense getting a little healthier hopefully we can make a run here uh you know this week last week we saw the washington defense suck it up and injured washington defense and really shut down the minnesota vikings we'd have to worry about the defense but the question mark is mark ripon in the offense it always is with the redskins and you know ripping his biggest flaw is probably the fact that he's a good quarterback that was a career year he had last year great super bowl game but the real mark griffin is i think the guy you saw in 90 and the guy you're seeing right now and he'll determine really who wins this game you know i think the real mark griffin is just a a wonderful nice guy come up with a nice family got a wife beautiful kids he's just a genuinely good person who went out and one day had a a great day at the office then all of a sudden got a ton of money for that great day at the office and i think what's happened i think it unsettled him he's a little bit uncomfortable with this newfound wealth i guess and success and now so he comes in the 92 season and it seems to me as though he's tried to prove that he's earned that three and a half million over 17 weeks and last week when he settled down and let everyone around him do their thing control the clock run the ball mark griffin played an excellent football game weather conditions in san francisco it's been raining they've been putting a drying agent out on the field uh does that favor does that make it a factor i guess people want to say you know the hogs love to slop around in the mud but you know mud slows down everybody and the 49ers on both sides of the ball have a real speed advantage yeah i'm talking to richie pettibone he said that the the slow field will slow him down that's to their advantage the redskins will play those soft zones you won't have the daryl green jerry rice match up and one of the things bad field does greg and randy as you well know randy is the fact that it takes away the man-to-man coverage the real gambling style of defense the blitzes which the reds can't redskins have been doing so well now let me ask now the quick how about young in 87 when montana had an mvp year he got benched in the second half by walsh i want to know would that happen today now that montana is the number two guy given a bad game terry nobody's above being yanked and he's he plays bad third quarter they're down by a couple touchdowns i think you yank them out you put joe in they can't lose a game george seifert might do that oh i think so all right soldier field may never be the same again after events that took place this week when we come back we will talk live with the man who will be missing next season along the shores of lake michigan mike ditka [Music] this magnavox portable cd player with pure digital sound is the best thing to take on vacation unless you compare it with this clever magnavox 5-inch tv great pictures best is this compact yet intelligent magnavox camcorder with auto focus unless you take this magnavox three-inch lcd tv which connects to my camcorder so i can watch my vacation on the ride home looks as though i had a pretty good time the ingenious products from magnavox they're smart very smart this symbol outside means you have the standard inside that an entire library of software has been written to [Music] the intel microprocessor think of it as a library card that lets you run the software of today and tomorrow so check out computers with intel the computer inside [Applause] [Music] you know i enjoy performing but i also enjoy working out that's why i go to general nutrition centers and get cybergenics phase one you get a training tape and a manual plus five state-of-the-art supplements if this guy can do it you can do it get cybergenics at gnc the authority of sports nutrition products people that first come to subway are a little surprised we don't have sandwiches ready just fresh bread that's you can see your sandwich being made and tell me if you like onions tomatoes or even hot peppers i'm not a mind reader and there's lots to choose from if your sandwich looks as good as it tastes that's because subway has a training center where experts like mr pilchen teaches the art of making beautiful sandwiches he calls himself an art teacher i guess that makes me a sandwich artist ask a sandwich artist to make you a six inch meatball sub now it's just a dollar sixty nine at subway ferris coach mike ditka leaving his office this week did not go empty-handed taking his customized golf cart with him but drove his own truck for the ride home to bannockburn illinois and he joins us from his home in bannockburn uh as we speak good afternoon coach and welcome to the nfl today good afternoon man you were you were let go on tuesday have any teams made contact with you since then or you with them yeah but there was about 35 teams that were contacting me the most impressive was the rolling metal bulldogs it's 12 years old and younger but i'm looking forward to talking to their general manager and getting in with them and you think maybe your future is bright there i think probably that's my only capability my intelligence level would probably i could deal with 12 year olds yeah i was offered a starting job done at my believer let me ask do you bring you back yeah great we'll go together do you think that maybe your fiery personality might run some owners off that are looking for a coach i don't i made a statement last night if you guys watch other uh channels uh that i i said that i i don't really care anymore and if my coaching career is over it's over uh what i did i did i did it well i'm very proud of what we accomplished in this city uh if owners want something else fine let them get something else i've never forced myself on anybody i only ask for one job and i asked for that four years before i got it in dal in uh from dallas to chicago and hey the guy hired me and he did he made a wise decision and it worked out great so i don't really worry about other people whatever they want to do they do pat dolan fires dan reed's good friend of yours mike mccaskey he he fires you do you think owners are trying to exercise more control over football decisions doesn't just run in the front office well i really don't know what i think and and to say what i think on the air wouldn't really help anything anyways but uh it's interesting you know i join a great list of players or coaches who have been fired when when you talk about people like dan reeves and you talk to people like tom landry and you talk about people like johnny mayers and majors and pat dye and other people that have been fired this year so i i'm in a pretty good cat class of people i don't feel too bad about that and if my breed is dead then welcome the new breed and long live them mike now that you're away from the situation what changes do you think that that the bears should make that that weren't made when you were there well that would be facetious for me to say that first of all i don't think that that would be my role to say that really i think it's it the things that are evident should be done i don't think that you have to drown to know you're in water you understand what i'm saying but i don't think you have to get burned to know that there's a fire nearby i think that the evident things you do and i think it doesn't take a genius or a scholar to understand what is evident but it does take common sense so you do the normal things that anybody else would do because the repair and the damage that people think is so great isn't that great it can be done and it can be reworked and it will be reworked and the guy that goes in there is going to have an opportunity because there are some fine young football players there are some great guys that will give them all they got mike you said if your coaching career is over then it's over what would you do well you know like i said i i'm not sure i i thought maybe i go on a professional bowling tour there's a couple of things that are rolling around in my mind but then you know there's a lot of things that could roll in my mind because my head's mostly empty well first of all let's let's take you back to 1966 and give you a glimpse of something that maybe you've forgotten about take a look at the monitor and of course catching passes isn't the only job of a tight end mic you've got to do some blocking too that's fairly important right cup we uh in our offense with with a guy like sears who certainly is the finest football player i've ever seen you have to try to turn them wide you don't want to keep them confined in the middle all the time and we try to get them out around now it seems to us coach that uh there was more than a little experience back then as a broadcaster would you agree well you know i was operating with cup at that time and uh you know he made it he made me look good what can i tell you we also were you also worked with george hallas who was your coach in chicago did you mold yourself after george halas did you copy any of his uh any of his ways as a head coach well if i did i would be flattered that i did i don't know that i did i try to try to do it my way but i'm sure that a lot of the things that i learned i learned from coach alice and coach landry and and i don't believe that the things i learned were wrong i think they were right uh you can only do it your way or if there's no use copying somebody else or molding yourself after somebody else there's only one of each of us around and god made us all individually and separately so we have to be what we are all right coach uh you sit back relax enjoy the first half of the game we'll chat with you again at halftime okay all right thank you man mike ditka and we'll take a timeout come right back get your blood pumping [Music] hurts too unless of course you stink you don't have to if you use an old spice because the pump's concentrated and it puts more power on your pit than the leading aerosol deodorant so it works big time the proof saves your strength she's all i need a pump from old spice don't let the size fool you give it a shot for great odor protection demand proof not promises if you're paying annual fees on your ira if you buy mutual funds and pay loads or fees we have an investment breakthrough for you now only schwab gives you the lifetime guaranteed no annual fee ira and no load mutual funds from leading fund companies only schwab gives you the single best way to buy mutual funds for your retirement so if you're still paying transaction fees or loans maybe it's time to come to schwab [Music] alka-seltzer plus nighttime for relief without alcohol hit the box not the bottle we all want batteries we can count on but you never know when they're on thin ice only duracell has the copper top battery tester so you can be sure your batteries will keep you gliding along you can't top the copper top introducing the 32-valve 280 horsepower lincoln mark viii and the most powerful argument we can make on its behalf drive everything else first the new lincoln mark 8. what a luxury car should be [Music] coming up the 49ers and the washington redskins the winner goes to the nfc championship game we'll all be back with mike ditka we'll see you at halftime

Channel: Jean-Paul Müller

Views: 26,909

Keywords: Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1992

Id: pNk9DD18GcI

Length: 237min 46sec (14266 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 07 2019